
Book- nh^ 



LAST LEAYES 



OF 



AMERICAN HISTORY: 



COMPRISING HISTORIES OF 



THE MEXICAN WAR 



AND 



CALIFORNIA 



BY 

EMMA V I L L ARD 



NEW- YORK: 
aEORGE P. PUTNAM, 155 BROADWAY. 

LONDON : PUTNAM'S AMERICAN AGENCY, 

Removed from Paternoster Row to 
J. Chapman, 142 Strand. 

1 849. 



Ho\l, 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1849, by 
G. P. PUTNAM, 
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New- York. 



^< 



PEE FACE. 



Washington Irving once said in conversation, " Pure truth is 
as difficult to be obtained as pure water ; though clear in appear- 
ance, it is ever found by the chemist to contain extraneous sub- 
stances." In recording the portion of my country's history, here 
presented to the public, I can only say, that pure truth has been my 
earnest aim ; for history is truth, and truth is history. I am not 
conscious of any prejudices or prepossessions, either as it respects 
individuals, parties, or sects, by means of which, I should incline to 
error, or be led astray. And I have spared no pains in my power, 
to make myself acquainted with the state of the facts, concerning 
which I have written. But doubtless there are mistakes ; for 
what book ever existed which had none ? There may be errors of 
the press ; authorities may mislead, — and that mind must be clear 
indeed, which never misapprehends. But whenever an error is 
found, of whatever nature, and whether pointed out by a friend to 
serve, or a foe to injure, that error will be corrected as soon as 
discovered. 

No complaint can justly be brought against the historian for 
omitting the names and acts of persons ; unless it shall appear, that 
the proper proportional space is not given to the main actors in the 



4 PREFACE. • 

historic drama. The writer of history, like the painter of historic 
subjects, if he seeks to make every figure of his group conspicuous, 
and to throw at once the principal light upon several, destroys the 
effect of his whole picture ; and the observer goes away with his 
mind filled with " a mass of things, and nothing distinctly." To 
avoid this, both the painter and the historian must select his main 
figure, and those next, and keep them in proportional light ; while 
inferior actors must, for the time, fall into comparative shade. But 
when, by such pictures, vividly drawn, the attention of the public 
is fixed on particular scenes, then every one who was an actor in 
those scenes, becomes a hero within his own circle. Who would 
not do honor to any man who had fought at Buena Vista, or Con- 
treras ? My object is not, however, to glorify individuals ; but so 
to present my country's history, both to her friends and her foes, 
that it shall make its proper impression. 



CONTENTS 



PART I. 



CHAPTER I. 
Inauguration and Death of Harrison — Tyler's Administration — Mobs- 
Disturbance in Rhode Island — Anti-Rentism — Mormonism, &;c. 9 



CHAPTER IT. 
Texas — Mexico — Causes of Annexation and the Mexican War. . .21 



CHAPTER III. 
Mexican War — Army of Occupation — Battles of the Rio Grande — Monterey. 35 

CHAPTER IV. 
Army of the Centre — Gen. Wool's March — Battle of Buena Vista. . 47 

CHAPTER V. 
Army of the West — Conquest of New Mexico and Caliibrnia. . 61 

CHAPTER VI. 
Doniphan's Expedition to Chihuahua — Revolt in New Mexico. . 71 

CHAPTER VII. 
Scott's Invasion — Vera Cruz — Cerro Gordo 77 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 
CHAPTER VIII. 

State of the Army — Its March — Contreras — Cherubusco. . . .83 



CHAPTER IX. 
Armistice — Molinos del Rey — Chapultepec — Mexico taken. . . ,90 

CHAPTER X. 
Pueblo — Huamantla — Treaty of Peace — Conclusion. . . . .97 



PART II. 



CHAPTER I. 



Introductory Remarks — Discovery and Settlement of Old and New Cali- 
fornia — Establishment of Missions by the Jesuits in Old California, 
and the Franciscans in New 109 



CHAPTER II. 

The Spanish System of Treatment to the Indians, compared with that 
of the American Government — Account of Upper California — its 
Presidios, Missions, &c., in 1822 123 



CHAPTER III. 

Lewis and Clarke's Expedition in the years 1803-4-5 — Fremont's Explo- 
ration to the South Pass, 1842. . V " " 133 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 
CHAPTER IV. 



Fremont's Discoveries on his second Expedition in 1843. . . . 140 



CHAPTER V. 

Fremont in California — At Sutei-'s Fort, and in the Valley of the San 

Joaquin 154 



CHAPTER VI. 

Visit to Upper California of Capt. Wilkes, Commander of the Ex- 
ploring Expedition, 1841 — The Californian Revolution of 1836, 
&c 160 



CHAPTER VII. 
Emigration to California begins in 1846 — Mr. Edwin Bryant finds many 
parties on the road — The horrible suiferings of the belated party — 
The Mormons 171 



CHAPTER VIII. 
Fremont's third Expedition — Movements tending to place California 

under British Protection — Bear Revolution — American Possession. . 179 



CHAPTER IX. 
Events of the War from the raising of the American Flag at Monterey 
— The Californian Battalion — Fremont's March — Capitulation of 
Cowenga. 192 



CHAPTER X. 
Commodore Stockton's Movements — Gen. Kearny's March — The battle 
of San Pasqual — Stockton sends relief to Kearny — Their March upon 
Los Angeles, and the Battle of San Gabriel 202 



CONTENTS. 



FAOE 
CHAPTER XI. 

Col. Fremont made Governor, by Com. Stockton — Gen. Kearny's sucess- 

ful measures to obtain the ascendency — Fremont's Trial. . .211 



CHAPTER. Xn. 
The Gold Mines— Conclusion S27 



LAST LEAVES 



OF 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



CHAPTER I. 

Inauguration and Death of Harrison — Tyler's Administration — 
Mobs— Disturbance in Riiode Island — Anti-Rentism — Mor- 
monism, &c. 

In the presidential election of 1840, a large majority ^Q'*^« 
was given to William Henry Harrison of Ohio, 
whose social and public virtues had been rendered con- 
spicuous by the various official stations of a long and 
useful life. The good man loved his country, and was 
pleased that his country loved him in return. On the 
4th of March he was inauojurated as president of the ^fa'-ch4. 

f' *■ Inauguration 

United States. John Tyler, of Virginia, was made "indTyS? 
vice-president at the same time. Gen. Harrison's inau- 
gural speech was characteristic of the uprightness of his 




THE PROPOSED FISCAL BANK. 

mind, and the reverential trust with which he reposed 
himself and his country upon the Great Supreme. From 
the capitol he went to the presidential mansion. Thou- 
sands flocked around him with congratulations and prof- 
fers of service, whose sincerity he was not prone to 
doubt, for he was himself sincere. The sunshine of 
public favor thus fell too brightly upon a head, white 

ifealh tjf ^^^^^ ^^® ^^'^^^^ ^^ ^S®* -^^^ health failed, and he expired 
just a month from the day of his inauguration. 

The census of 1840, gave as the number of inhab- 
itants in the United Slates, 17,038,636. 

Mr Tyler Mr. Tyler, by the constitution, became president on 

succeeds. * i ^tt i • 

the decease of the incumbent. He repaired to Washmg- 

ton, took the oath of office, and issued an address, as 

agreeable to the patriotic sentiments of the people, as the 

May 14. appointment of a day of public fasting, subsequently 

National 

tast. made, was to their religious feelings. 

Monetary affairs were at this period the all exciting 
topic. The Whig party were opposed to Mr. Van Bu- 
ren's Independent Treasury, and in favor of a National 

National _, , ,.^ i , • i j? i 

Bank. Opin- Bank, — modified, however, to suit the purposes ot the 

ions of the 

Whigs, public revenue. They believed that such a bank would 
be more convenient and more economical to the govern- 
ment, — and that it would, at the same time, facilitate 
the business, and promote the prosperity of the country, 
over which it was the government's duty, as they main- 
tained, to exercise a parental care ; and they asserted 
that the attempt to bring back a specie circulation was a 
dangerous experiment upon the currency. 



THE PROPOSED FISCAL BANK. H 

The Democratic party, on the other hand, maintained 1841. 
that any connection of government with banks, or with ^i^e"'Demo°*' 
the monetary affairs of individuals, was foreign to its party, 
purposes, and embarrassing to its operations ; and that 
experience had shown it to be a fruitful source of bribery 
and corruption. To avoid these evils, they believed that 
the government should keep its own money, maintain- saiirfmm' 

r , , . . , . . ,^ ... New-Yoik, 

mg Its value, by operatuig with specie itself, not with its the steamer 

President, 

representative. ^^'^ pas en- 

tr gers. Never 

The majority of the voters at that time adopted the mo,eO 
views of the Whigs ; and at the presidential election 
chose Messrs. Harrison and Tyler, with an understand- 
ing that they would favor a National Bank. General 
Harrison, aware of the point on which his election had 
turned, issued, March 17th, his proclamation, calling an 
extra session of Congress to convene on the 31st of May, May ai. 

Congress 

to consider " sundry weighty and important matters, convene, 
chiefly growing out of the revenue and finances of the 
country." When this Congress met, Mr. Tyler was ,j^^j g 
president. He had formerly been opposed to a National to dis/dbu^e 

proceeds of 

Bank, but he had professed himself a Whiii, and accepted public lands 

' ^ '^ ^ to the several 

his nomination, knowing the views and expectations of states.) 
the voters. 

Congress repealed the Sub-Treasury law on the 6th 
of August. Three days earlier, the House of Represen- 
tatives had passed an act, establishing a National Bank 
for fiscal operations, the scheme of which was under- 
stood to emanate from Henry Clay, the leader of the 
Whig party. Mr. Tyler, to the deep chagrin of that 



12 THE TARIFF BILL. 

1811. party, defeated the measure by the presidential veto. 

T'lfr^'f first Endeavoring to make a compromise with the president, 

tfouaiBank. the mortified Whigs got up another scheme for a bank, 

and passed it through Congress under the name of a 

g^ ^ g " Fiscal Corporation of the United States." A second 

'^veto!*" time Mr. Tyler defeated them by his veto. From this 

period to the close of his administration, he stood in the 

anomalous position of having the two great political 

parties both against him. By a third veto, he hindered 

raake^a third ^j^^ passage of a Tariff bill. A law to modify the existing 

August 30. Tariff was, however, passed on the 30th of August. 

A Tariff bill ' ' r b 

passed. ^pj^g q^\q cabinet selected by Harrison had all remained 
in office up to the period of the second veto, when all 
resigned except Mr. Webster, the secretary of state. 
His country needed him in the office, and remaining, he 
found occasion to render her essential service. 

In consequence of the pecuniary distresses of former 

years, many merchants had been obliged to fail in busi- 

Augnst 18. ness. Congress now passed a Bankrupt Law, uniform 

Bankrupt 

Law. in its action throughout the states, by which, on the 
surrender of their property to their creditors, bankrupts 
could be free from the legal disabilities of past debt. 
This act having served its temporary purpose, and no 
doubt given rise to many frauds, was afterwards re- 
pealed. 

In the unwarrantable stretch of credit which had 
existed, states over-zealous for internal improvement had 
participated ; and when the revulsion came, some of 
these found themselves unable, without direct taxation, 



NORTH-EASTERN BOUNDARY. 13 

(to which the rulers dared not promptly resort,) to meet ^Q^^* 
their engagements ; and the holders of their bonds, many 
of whom were foreigners, could not obtain the interest 
when due. These states were said to have repudiated 
their bonds, and this repudiation for a time cast great Repudiation, 
obloquy upon the whole nation. With returning pros- 
perity, however, these states resume payment ; and it is 
believed, that no such thing as an actual repudiation of a 
just debt will be permanently made by any state. 

The old United States Bank, after having been re- 
fused a charter by the general government, received one 
from the state of Pennsylvania. The president, Nicholas ^^^ j^ 
Biddle, the Napoleon of finance, did m.uch to sustain the the^ow u.°s. 

Bank. 

struggling merchants of the cities, by great foreign 
operations ; but at length going beyond his depth, he and 
his bank failed. Many banks and commercial houses 
were involved in the ruin ; and many widows, orphans, 
and others, lost their whole fortunes. 

A disagreement between the United States and Eng- 
land had lonff existed in resjard to the North-Eastern ^„^„ 
boundary. Much excitement prevailed between the in- ^TreiTty"" 
habitants of Maine and New Brunswick, — regions ad- th?'united 

States Sen- 
joining the disputed line, — and measures were taken on ate, Aug. 20.) 

each side, which threatened war. Lord Ashburton was 

sent from Enorland as a special envoy to settle this dis- (in England, 

Oct. 14.) 

pute ; and Mr. Webster, with great diplomatic ability, 
arranged with him the terms of a treaty, by which the 
important question of a North-Eastern boundary is finally 
and amicably settled. 



14 ALARMING DISORpERS. 

1844. Serious riots occurred in the spring of 1844 in Phila- 

delphia. They grew out of a jealousy on the part of 
native American Protestants, that the foreign Roman 
Catholic population intended to gain the control of the 
common schools, and change the established order of 
instruction, especially in regai'd to the use of the Scrip- 
tures. The Native American party attempted to hold a 
meeting for debate in Kensington, a suburb of Philadel- 

May 6. phia, inhabited by Irish Catholics. These assaulted the 

Riot in Pliil- 

adeiphia. Nativcs with brickbats and other missiles, thus beginning 
that violation of law, by which eventually they suffered 
so severely. 

Law once violated, confusion and anarchy prevailed. 
Firearms were used on both sides. The governor re- 
paired to the scene of action, and bodies of the military, 
with field-pieces, were stationed in the streets. It was 
34 buildings not uutil the third day that order was restored. Thirty 

burned. 

dwelling-houses, a convent, and three churches were 

Killed, 14, burned. Fourteen persons had been killed and forty 

wounded. These disgraceful scenes were renewed on 

June?, the 7th of June. The governor called out 5,000 of the 

becond not. ~ ' 

vvouiided^"50. military, and at this time fifty persons were either killed 
or wounded. 

Rhode Island now became the theatre of an attempt 
to set aside existing authorities. The " suffrage party," 
by whom it was made, did not, however, regard the 
matter in this light. They formed, though by illegal 
assemblies, what they considered a constitution for the 
state ; and then proceeded to elect under it a governor 



THE DORR REBELLION. 15 

(Mr. Dorr) and members for a legislature. Their op- 1843. 
ponents, called the " law and order " party, acting under ^.'J''''..^®- 
existing authorities, elected state officers, Mr. King being "'^''"'i'^- 
made governor. 

It was the intention of Mr. Dorr, and his more violent 
adherents, to get forcible possession of the state build- 
ings ; and on the 18th of May, he went with an armed 
force, and took the state arsenal. No lives were lost, as 
his directions to fire on those who opposed liis progress 
were not obeyed. Governor King meantime put himself 
at the head of the military. Several persons were ar- 
rested, and Dorr fled. He afterwards appeared at 
Chepachet with some two or three hundred men ; but a Dorr at' 

Che|)acliet. 

superior government force being sent, they dispersed. 

Dorr afterwards returned, was tried, convicted of trea- Dj,.f,e*Io 

son, and sentenced to the state's prison. Meantime a 'p'iio»^. ^ 

new constitution was by legal measures adopted. In 

1845, Dorr was released from prison, but he was not re- is IS. 

stored to his civil rights, on account of his refusal to 

take tlie oath of allegiance to the new constitution. 

The war steamer Princeton, lying, Feb. 28, 1844, in 



Is released. 



E.\|)losioii 

on tlie 
Princeton. 



the Potomac — Capt. Stockton, the commander, having p®'*,^* 
on board, as invited guests, the president of the United 
States, heads of department.s, ladies, and others — a 
wrcught-iron gun, whose great size made it a curiosity, 
on being fired the third time, burst ; — and the horrible 
explosion instantly killed Messrs. Upshur and Gilmer, Privates, 

^ - ^ killed. 3, 

secretaries of state and the navy, — three distinguished wounded, 12. 



16 THE ANTI-RENTERS. 

1341. gentlemen — Com. Kennon, David Gardiner, Esq., and 
the Hon. Virgil Maxcy, — besides several of the crew. 

An alarming tendency to anarchy has been expe- 
rienced in the anti-rent disturbances in the state of New 
York. In the early history of this state we have seen, 
that under the Dutch government, certain settlers received 
patents of considerable portions of land, — of which that 
(Ren-^seiaer- ^f Van Reusselacr was the most extensive, — compre- 
"lon's, 28 "" bending the greater part of Albany and Rensselaer 

broad.) 

counties. These lands were divided into farms contain- 
ing from 160 to 100 acres, and leased in perpetuity, on 
the following conditions. The tenant must each year 
pay to the landlord a quantity of wheat, from 22^ 
bushels to 10, with four fat fowls and a day's service 
with horses and wagon. If the tenant sold his lease, the 
landlord was entitled to one-quarter of the purchase- 
money. The " patroon " was also entitled to certain 
privileges on all water-power, and a right to all mines. 

In process of time, the tenants began to consider 
these legal conditions as anti-republican, — a relic of 
feudal tyranny. The excellent Stephen Van Rensselaer, 
who came nito possession of the patent in 1785, had, in 
the kindness of his nature, omitted to exact his legal 
rights ; and $200,000 back rent had accrued, — which 
Stephen Van hf^j dying in 1840, appropriated by will. The tenants 

Rensselaer 

dies murmured when called on to pay it, and sheriffs, in 

June 26. r ./ ' ' 

attempting to execute legal precepts, were forcibly 
resisted. An ineffectual attempt to put down these 



THE ANTI-RENTERS. 17 

disorders was made on the part of the state authorities, 1841. 
by a military movement, called in derision " the " "yig^^e'l,^'' 
Heldeberg war." 

In the summer of 1844, tlie anti-rent disturbances 
broke out vvith great violence in the eastern towns of 
Rensselaer, and on the Livingston manor, in Columbia 
county. Extensive associations were formed by the Ami-renters 

disguised as 

anti-renters to resist the laws. They kept armed and inii'ans. 
mounted bands, disguised as Indians, scouring the 
country ; and the traveller as he met them issuing from 
some dark wood, with their hideous masks and gaudy 
calicoes, was required, on penalty of insult, to exclaim, 
" Down with the rent." These lawless rangers forcibly 
entered houses, took men from their homes, and tarred 
and feathered, or otherwise maltreated them. In Rens- 
selaer county, at noonday, a man was killed where about ^'"jj'^^ j^j"^*' 
50 " Indians" were present, — some of whom were after- 
wards arraigned, when they swore that they knew 
nothing of the murder. Sometimes 1,000 of these 
disguised anarchists were assembled in one body. Simi- 
lar disturbances occurred in Delaware county. At 
length Steele, a deputy-sheriff, was murdered in the 8,^^,^ -^11,^,, 
execution of his official duty, and his murderers were '° 
apprehended. 

Meanwhile Silas Wright was chosen governor of 
the state. Much does his country owe him for the covemo* 

, . , , , . Wriijlit's 

wisdom and firmness oi the measures by which public measures, 
order was restored. On the 27th of August he pro- 
claimed the county of Delaware in a state of insurrection. 



18 THE MOEMOJNfS. 

18 iT. Resolute men were made sheriffs, and competent military 

sSwrS't ^^^ afforded them. Leading anti-renters were taken, 

(Aug. brought to trial, and imprisoned. The murderers of Steele 

Anti-rent 

outrage ou were condemned to death, — but their punishment was 

tlie pers in of ^ 

^^don?^^ commuted to that of perpetual confinement. 

On the 27th of Jan. 1847, Gov. Young, the successor 
of Mr. Wright, by his proclamation, released from the 
state's prison the whole number, eighteen, who had 
been committed for anti-rent offences. There has 
been a fresh outbreak of these troubles in Columbia 
county. 
1845. In congress, March 3d, 1845, an act was passed 

March 3. 

Iowa and admittiuor two States into the Union, — Iowa, its western 

Florida. ° ' ' 

boundary the river Des Moines, and Florida, comprising 

the east and west parts, as defined by the treaty of 

cession. 

(1805. ^^^ ^^ ^^® ^"""^^^ extraordinary impostures of the age 

Jo.^smith is that called " Mormonism." The leader, Joseph Smith, 

born in Sha- 
ron. Vt., 1815 was an obscure, uneducated man, of New England 

— removed to / o 

^1^^1827— origin. Under pretence of special revelation, he, some- 

piates, and what after the fashion of Mahomet, produced the stereo- 
pretends to 
inspiration, ^j^q plates of the " Book of Mormon," by which he 

persuaded numbers, that he was the inspired founder of 
a new religion, which was to give to his followers the 
same pre-eminence over all other people, as the Jews had 
over the Gentiles. His peculiar code is as yet ill under- 
stood, but there is little room to doubt, that it gives his 
followers liberty to commit every crime. Like the 
systems of socialism which prevail in France, and have 



THE MORMONS. 19 

1838. 



been attempted in this country, Mormonism degrades 
and demoralizes women. 

Yet such numbers of both sexes were found to join 
and aid this delusion — throwing their property into 
common stock — that on their arrival at the Far West in j^^iS^^ons' at 
Missouri, the Mormons numbered 5,000, of wliom 700 
were armed men. Charged with various crimes, among 
others an attempt to assassinate Gov. Boggs, they were 
expelled the state by a military force commanded by 
Gen. Atkinson. They then purchased a large tract of 
land in Illinois, on the eastern bank of the Mississippi. 
There, on a beautiful slope, they built " Nauvoo," where, NauJoo.^ 
amidst their dwellings, arose a pompous temple, deco- 
rated and furnished according to directions found in the 
"Book of Mormon." — Robberies and assassinations 
became frequent in their vicinity ; and although secrecy 
and mystery accompanied them, the neighboring people 
were convinced that the Mormons were the perpetrators. 
Yet so had they spread, — using bribery and intimidation, 
tha,t, in the county courts, no cause could be obtained 

aorainst a Mormon. Popular fury was aroused, nor 
° . . 1844. 

could the state authorities restrain its current. The J^jy"^-, 

Jo. Smith 

chief of the Mormons, with his brother, had been arrested £ kiiied^'at 
by Gov. Ford, of Illinois, and lodged in jail at Carthage. 
A hundred men in disguise broke into their prison and 
murdered them. — In 1845, so formidable a combination 
existed against them, that the Mormons sold their pos- 
sessions in Illinois. Ttheir city, which had contained 
not less than 10,000 inhabitants, was deserted, and they 



20 THE MORMONS. 

1845-6. were wending their way to a region beyond the Rocky 
SvcnTvoo! Mountains. Yet their numbers were still such, that they 
furnished, in the spring of 1846, 500 volunteers, — who 
were conducted by Col. Allen and Lieut. Smith to Santa 
1846-8. ^^' ^^^ afterwards joined Gen. Kearney. The Mormons 
CaUtbrnia° are now settled in the great valley of Upper California, 
near the Salt Lake ; and it is to be hoped that the evils 
which they have suffered, will lead them to abandon 
their errors. Theirs is the Anglo-Saxon blood. They 
claim that their religion has its foundation in Christian- 
ity ; and they may hereafter be led to examine, and 
conform to its precepts. 



CHAPTER II 



Texas — Mexico — Causes of Annexation and the Mexican War. 



We have already seen that the French adventurer 1685. 



La Salle discovered Texas. On account of his discovery, La Saiie dis- 
covered Tex- 

the French claimed the country to the Rio Grande, as *^" 
forming a part of Louisiana. The Spaniards of Mexico 
remonstrated, and sent thither an armed force, but the 
French had already dispersed. The first effectual settle- 
ment in Texas was that of San Antonio de Bexar, made 
by the Spaniards in 1692. A few missionary stations 1692. 
were subsequently established. founded. 

But the Mexican authorities seemed not so desirous 
to occupy this country, as to keep it a desolate waste, 
that thus an impassable barrier might be maintained 
between them and their Anglo-American neighbors. 
This desire to avoid contact by means of an intervening 
desert, was so strongly felt by the Mexicans, even in 
1847, as to break off negotiations for peace, when Gen. 
Scott was at the gates of their capital with a victorious 
army. The aversion thus manifested, the Mexicans at 
first derived from their mother country. At the time 
when Mexico was colonized, Spain stood at the head of ^^'" century. 



22 MEXICAN HOSTILITY. 

Roman Catholic countries, — regarding all heretics in 
exterminating abhorrence, and cutting them off by the 

17th century. Inquisitiou and the sword. As the Reformation pro- 
ceeded, England, the land of our forefathers, took the 
lead of Protestant nations. But while we, mingling with 
the world, changed, — Mexico, shut up, retained her na- 
tive aversions ; and these, coupled with the national 
pride and jealousy of the Spanish character, may be 
marked as the first and predisposing cause of the late 
Mexican war. 

Tyranny of Moxico as a colouy belonged not so much to the 

in Mexico. Spanish nation, as to the Spanish kings ; and they go- 
verned and managed it by their viceroys, regardless of 
the well-being of the people, — but merely as an estate 
to bring them money ; yet, not by any methods by 
which the mother country might be rivalled. Hence, 
while the mines were industriously wrought, no com- 
merce was permitted to the Mexicans ; nor might they 
rear the silkworm, or plant the olive or the vine. But 

Spain allows ^fj-gj. Spain saw that the EnMish colonies, less oppressed 

some torei?n r o ^ i i 

tra e_m ex- ^j^^^ ^^^ own, had rcvoltcd, and were likely to establish 
their independence, she moderated her rigor, so as to 
allow some trade with foreign nations, but under severe 
duties and restrictions. Thus, kept from the means of 
improvement, Mexico remained unchanged. After Ferdi- 
181 0. nand VII had, in 1810, fallen with the Spanish nation 

Mexico re- r^ tvt i i it • 

volts. under the power of Napoleon, the Mexicans revolted. 

1818. ^^^ ^^^ people were not united ; — and after the bloody war 

^^vafi!^^^ of eight years, called the fij'st revolution, the royalists pre- 



SANTA ANNA STEPHEN F. AUSTIN. 23 

vailed. The second revolution was begun in 1821, by 1821-1. 
the Mexican general Iturbide. Under him the Mexi- (He^^^hoiat 
cans threw off the Spanish yoke. But he made himself 
a monarch. The people wished for a republic ; and 
they deposed Iturbide, banished, and on his return con- 
demned and executed him. 

Another leader arose, — Santa Anna, — who has 

' ' ^1834:. 

proved himself one of the most remarkable men of the Federal con- 

^ stitution of 

present day. In 1824, a federal constitution was formed Mexico, 
under his auspices, by which Mexico, like our republic, 
was divided into states, with each a legislature, and over 
the whole a general government. 

In 1803, the United States, in purchasing Louisiana 
of France, obtained with it the disputed claim to Texas ; 
but in 1819, they ceded it by treaty to Spain as a part 1619. 
of Mexico, Florida being then granted by that power to to Spain, 
the United States. Two years thereafter, Stephen F. 1821- 

Anglo-Amer- 

Austin led a colony from the United States to Texas, ^^^fou^lej^ 
and made a settlement between the rivers Brazos and 
Colorado. The Spanish authorities in Mexico, desirous 
of defence against the destructive incursions of the 
fierce and hostile Comanches, had, contrary to their or- 
dinary policy, made laws favoring American immigra- 
tion, yet only under the condition that the ijnmigrants 
merged their religion and their language into those of 
Mexico. 

MosES Austin, a native of Durham, Connecticut, 
applied for, and received, in 1819, a grant of land with 
permission from the Mexican authorities to plant a 



24 STEPHEN F. AUSTIN. 

1821. colony. He dying, Stephen F. Austin^ his son, accord- 
ing to his parting request, carried out his plans, and 
'thus became the leader of American colonization in 
Texas. Austin's enterprise being joined by others, who 
like himself sought to better their fortunes, his colony 
soon flourished to such an extent, that it attracted the 
attention of the Mexican clero-y. They found that the 

Mexican ='•' •' 

akrmed ^^^^' which required the settlers to make oath that they 
were Catholics, and to establish Spanish schools, had 
been regarded by them, but as an unmeaning formality ; 
and they felt the utmost alarm that a colony of foreign 
heretics was planted among them, — and of course a de- 
sire that they should either submit to their national laws 
or be rooted out. Here were sown the seeds of future 
war ; for these heretics were the brothers of American 
citizens, and, though expatriated, they were children- 

182T. ^°™ °^ ^^® republic. — Farther jealousies arose from 
futile attempts at independence, which were made by a 
few of the settlers in the neighborhood of Nacogdoches, 
and from propositions made on the part of the United 
States government to purchase Texas. In whatever was 
done the Mexicans fancied some plot against them, in 
which the American nation at large was concerned. 
They even surmised that the settlers in Texas were sent 
but as a cover to a concealed purpose of the American 
authorities to take their territory, and destroy their na- 
tionality. 

Texas, under the constitution of 1824, was united in 
one state with the neighboring province of Coahuila. 



The "Fiedo 
nian war." 



TEXAN REVOLUTION. 3S 

The Spanish Mexicans of this province outvoted and (t^3», 
pursued an oppressive policy against the Texans. Ste- Jo,ft^iofooo 

. 1 • p T\ir - Americans 

pnen F. Austin was sent by them to the city ot Mexico in Texas at 

the beginning 

to petition against these grievances, and for the privilege of Jh«. Revo- 
of forming Texas into a separate state. The Mexican 
congress treated him. with neglect. He wrote a letter to 
the Texans advising them at all events to proceed in 
forming a separate state government. The party in 
Texas opposed to Austin, sent back his letter to the 
Mexican authorities, — who made him prisoner as he was 
returning, sent him back to Mexico, and threw him "^"Jonel^J^t" 

Saltillo.) 

into a dungeon. 

Meanwhile Santa Anna, ambitious and crafty, though 
with seeming simplicity, subverted the constitution of 
1824, and in the name of liberty, made himself the 
military tyrant of the Mexicans. They would better 
bear this, if he employed their force against the Anglo- 
Americans ; and he sent General Cos into Texas, to 
place the civil rulers there in subjection to the military. 
Meantime Austin returned, and was placed at the head 

of a central committee of safety. Appeals were made Texan Revo- 
lution begiiif.. 
through the press to the Texan people, and arrange- 

ments set on foot to raise men and money. Adventurers 
from the American states came to their aid. The object 
of the Texans at this time in preparing for war, was, to 
join a Mexican party now in arms against the military 
usurpation of Santa Anna, and thus to maintain the con- 
stitution of 1824. 

The Lexington of the Texan revolution, was Gon- 
2 



26 TEXAN REVOLUTION. 

1835. zalez. Mexican forces had been sent to that place to 
Battle of demand a field-piece. The Texans attacked and drove 
Me'v^ica^n" them from the ground with loss. Santa Anna now 

foice 1000, 

Texan 500. causcd the fortrcsses of Goliad, and the Alamo, or cita- 
del of Bexar, to be strongly fortified ; the latter being 
Mexican loss the headquarters of General Gos. The Texans on the 

lU.i, rev an 1 

killed. 18th of October, took Goliad with valuable munitions. 
On the 28th, they obtained a victory near Bexar. 

Texan delegates, Novembor 22d, met in convention 
at San Felipe, and established a provisional government. 

On the 11th of December, their forces, under General 
Burleson took, after a bloody siege and a violent struggle, 
the strong fortress of the Alamo, and the city of Bexar ; 
General Cos and his army were made prisoners, and not 
a Mexican in arms remained. But Santa Anna, ever 
active and alert, was gathering his forces ; and in Feb- 
ruary, 1836, was approaching with 8,000 men. 

Unhappily, divisions now prevailed in the Texan 

counsels, while the small and insuhicient garrison of the 

'ifrdi^C Alamo was attacked by this i)owerful army, headed by 

tiit'Aiamo. a man wlio added to the smoothness of the tiger his 

Killed 150. 

fierceness and cruelty. Travis, who commanded, had 
only 150 men. They fouglit all oac bloody night, until 
he fell and all his garrison but seven ; — and they were 

(David Croc- "^ 

ket was killed glaiu, while Crying for quarter ! 

Meantime a Texan convention had assembled at 
Washington, on the Brazos, which, on the 2d of March, 

March 2. 

Texans de- d£clared INDEPENDENCE. Thcv had desired, said the 

dare imle- 

pendenc«. (-j^^jp^j^^^g^ ^q ynit^ yy\i\^ their Moxicau brethren in sup- 



Killed 400. 



T£XAN INDEPENDENCE. 27 

port of the constitution of 1824, but in vain. Now 1836. 
appealing to tiie world for the necessities of their condi- 
tion, they declared themselves an Independent Repub- 
lic, and committed their cause to the Supreme Arbiter 
of nations. 

Colonel Fanning comm.anded at Goliad. He had 
besought the Texan authorities to reinforce him ; and 
he had been directed by them to abandon his post, and 
save his garrison by retreat.* The Mexicans, by their 
superior force, overpowered him. He surrendered on 
condition that he and his men should be treated as pris- 
oners of war. Santa Anna ordered their execution ; March 27. 

Massacre at 

and four hundred unarmed and unresisting men, unsus- „.^o]'ad. 
picious of harm, were drawn out. One of the fated sol- 
diers exclamed, " They are going to shoot us ; let us 
turn, and not be shot in the back." In another instant 
the fire was given, and the prisoners fell dead. Fanning 
was shot the next day ; — and his body denied a burial. 
These men were American-born. Fanning had been an 
officer in the army of the United States. American hate 
and sympathy kindled as the shocking massacre was 
told. Annexation followed in time, and the Mexican 
war. 

On the 21st of April, the main Texan army, under 
General Houston, met the Mexicans, who were double 

* Of this fact, the writer was recently informed by General, now 
Senator Houston. Fanning had march -d cut of the fortress, met, 
and contended with the Mexicans, was taken and carried back, so 
that the massacre was at GoUad. 



28 TEX/j: INDEPENDENCE. 

1836. their number, near the San Jacinto. Furiously the 
Batti'e^of Texans rushed to battle with the cry, " Remember the 
Mex. force ' Alamo." They fought at less than half-rifle distance, 

1600, 

Tex. 783. ^ud iu Icss than half an hour, wholly routed the Mexi- 

Mex. 1( Si, ' "^ 

^'Te^x! fofs,^' cans, killing and wounding a number greater than the 
whole Texan force. Among the prisoners taken after 
the battle, was Santa Anna himself He, the perfect 
master of dissimulation, now makes the Texans believe 
that he is so satisfied of their valor and goodness, that he 
will use his power and influence in their favor. As su- 
preme ruler of Mexico, he by a treaty, acknowledged 
their independence, and allowed their western boundary 
to be the Rio Grande. This treaty was subsequently 
disavowed by Mexico, it being made while Santa Anna 

1 @3 1 

March 3.' was a prisoner. Although the United States, England, 

United States 

recognize and Other powers acknowledged the independence of 
En^ilTd% Texas, yet Mexico, through all her changes of rulers 
ever claimed the country, and occasionally sent troops 
to renew the war by predatory excursions. The Tex- 
ans in 1841, sent under McLeod a party of 300, who 
were partly Americans, to take possession of Santa Fe, 
the capital of New Mexico, that city lying on the eastern 
side of the Rio Grande. These were made prisoners by 
the Mexicans, and treated with great cruelty. 

Santa Anna meantime procured himself to be sent by 
the Texans to the U. States, where he so far gained 
President Jackson's favor, as to be sent by him to 
Mexico. Then turning his back upon those he had been 
deceiving, he paid his court to the Mexicans, by dis- 



PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1844. 2fO 

avowing all his treaties and promises, and entering upon 1S12. 
a course of hostility to Anglo-Americans. 

Gen. Woll, sent by him to invade Texas, took Bexar. 
A Texan army having driven him back, were eager to 
carry the war into Mexico. After various disappoint- 
ments, and the return of most of their volunteers, a party 
of 300 crossed the Rio Grande, and proceedintr to Mier, Sept. ii. 

^ " The attack on 

they attacked it ; and although opposed by five times ^^^'' 
their force, they fought their way into the heart of the 
place. They killed and wounded double their whole 
number, when, although they had lost only 35 men, 
they capitulated.* Although these prisoners were 
treated badly, yet their romantic history shows that the 
Mexican character and feelings had somewhat improved 
since the massacres of the Alamo and Goliad. 

Texas early made application to be received into the 
American Union. Gen. Jackson objected, — and after- 
wards Mr. Van Buren, — on the ground of existing 
peaceful relations with Mexico, and the unsettled 
boundary of Texas. Mr. Tyler brought forward the 
proposition. It was lost in congress. But the mass of 
the American people were in favor of Annexation, as 
was made manifest when it became the test question at 
the presidential election in 1844. The Whig candidates 
for president and vice-president were Henry Clay and 

* They were, says Gen. Green, in his Journal of the Expedition, 
betrayed into the surrender by Fisher, their leader, who had lost his 
mind by a gunshot wound. Green says this party of 300 killed and 
wounded 800 of the Mexicans at Mier. 



30 i^NNEXATION OF TEXAS. 

184:4. Theodore Frelinghuysen, who were opposed to immediate 

^lesidenr annexation ; and the Democratic were James K. Polk 

Tenn.,''vice° and Gcorgc M. Dallas, who were pledged it its favor. 

uresideiit, G. 

M. Dallas, of The latter were elected ; and on the 4th March, 1844, 

they were duly inaugurated. After the election, and 

March 4* before the inauguration, Texas was annexed ; — Mr. 

Inaugurated. ry i 

Calhoun, the secretary of state, and Messrs. Van Zandt 

and Henderson, on the part of Texas, having previously 

negotiated the treaty at Washington. Mr. Calhoun was 

especially moved by fears that England was about to 

gain control of Texas for the purpose of excluding 

slavery. 

Feb 28 On the 28th of February, congress passed the joint 

tion^amiexing j^ggojufion to aunox Texas, — her authorities and people 

consenting, and the following conditions observed : 1st. 

All questions of boundary to be settled by the United 

States ; 2d. Texas to give up her harbors, magazines, 

(March 1. &c., but to retain her funds and her debts, and, until 

It receives th-e 

Ir'vnatTre^ their discharge, her Unappropriated lands ; 3d. Additional 
new states, not exceeding four, may be formed, with 
slavery, if south of lat. 36f , but if north, without. — The 
Mexican minister at Washington, Senor Almonte, who 
had before announced that Mexico would declare war if 
Texas were annexed, now gave notice, that since America 
had consummated " the most unjust act recorded in 
history," negotiations were at an end. 

The Americans had, on their part, cause of complaint 
against Mexico. She had been an unjust and injurious 
neighbor. Such had been the unredressed wrongs of 



ANNEXATION OF TEXAS. 91 

pei*son and property to which American citizens had 1^39. 
been subjected in Mexico, that had she not been a weaker 
nation and a sistei republic, war would have resulted 
during Jackson's administration. Mr. Van Buren re- 
commended measures leading to war ; — when the 
Mexicans resorted to negotiation. In 1839 a treaty was 

Mexican 

made, by which they agreed to pay large indemnities to treaty, 
American sufferers. This treaty was modified in 1843, n^^^ified 
but its stipulations the Mexican government had mostly 
failed to observe. 

The assent of Texas, by which she became a part of 
the American Union, was expressed in the ordinance of 
July 5, 1845. Two days thereafter, a request was 1845- 

Annexation 

dispatched to President Polk to send an armed force to completed. 

protect Texas against the threatened invasion of Mexico. 

The administration judiciously chose, as commander of 

the forces to be sent. Col. Zachary Taylor. On the ^^ommander 

' at Okee Cho 

30th of July he was ordered by the war department to ,„ade a Brig- 
adier.) 
proceed to the western frontier, as near the Rio Grande 

as prudence would dictate. Thereupon he marched, 

and took post at Corpus Christi, west of the Nueces. 

He soon received a further order informing him that his 

forces were to be increased to 4,000, and that he was, in 

case of emergency, to call immediately on the governors of 

the adjoining states for volunteers, they being instructed 

to furnish him. A Mexican force in the meantime had 

collected on the western bank of the Rio Grande. 

Although regular pacific negotiations were closed, 

yet the American executve made overtures for peace 



?J2 MR. SLIDELL's mission to MEXICO. 

1845. through Mr. Black, the American consul at Mexico. 
Gen. Herrera, one of the wisest patriots of Mexico, was 
now at the head of affairs. He was disposed to peace, 
and through his secretary, Senor Pena y Pefia, he gave 
private assurances that he would receive a special com- 
missioner to treat respecting Texas ; but the American 
government, he said, must first withdraw a fleet with 
which they menaced Vera Cruz. This was done. 

The ancient aversion of the Mexicans had been, b] 
the annexation, wrought into jealousy and fierce revenge; 
and he who most vilified the Americans, and the loudest 
blustered for war, was most the popular favorite. Such 
was Paredes, by whose party Herrera was denounced 
as a traitor for suspected intercourse with the foes of the 
nation. He was still struggling for his place, when Mr. 

„ „ Slidell, sent by Mr. Polk, arrived in Mexico, and de- 
Dee. Wi ' '' ' 

"^leje^te?' mandcd to be received. Herrera rejected his mission on 
the ground that the American government had sent him 
as an envoy to settle the whole differences between the 
two nations, and not as a commissioner to consider 
merely the Texan question. He had brought the Amer- 
ican account-book, when it had been proposed by the 
Mexicans to settle such differences only as appearer^ 
upon their own. Herrera, even with this rejection, wai 
not found violent enough to please the Mexicans, and they 
(Jan. 2. displaced him and elevated Paredes. Mr. Slidell re- 

Paredes made . -i t«* i . i i 

president.) mamcd at Jalapa until March, when he made, as 
directed, overtures of peace to Paredes, which were, of 
course, rejected. The nature of his then unopened in- 



Dec. 29. 
(■Revolution 
in Mexico.) 



OREGON. 



structions, since made public, show how little aware 
was the government of the bitter hostility of the Mexican 
mind. Mr. Slidell was to offer money for a peaceable 
boundary on the Rio Grande, and the cession of Cali- 
fornia. 

On the 16th of January, 1845, the United States 
Senate ratified a treaty with China, which had been 
there negotiated between Mr. Cushing, the American 
Envoy Extraordinary, and the Commissioner of the 
Chinese Emperor. 

Oregon. — While such was the aspect of Mexican 
affairs, a difficulty arose between the United States and 
England respecting the northern boundary of Oregon ; 
tjoth nations claiming the extensive portion of that coun- 
try north of the Columbia river to the Russian settle- 
ments. The full statement of the claims on either side, 
is long and intricate ; but there is no contradiction made 
to the facts, that the Columbia river and its vicinity, 
belongs to the Americans by right of the discovery 
made in 17G2, by Captain Grey of Boston, and by the 
exploration of Lewis and Clark, in the employ of the 
American government, made in the years 1804—5. John 
Jacob Astor of New-York, founded Astoria, at the mouth 
of the Columbia, in 1811. The first house on its 
waters was, however, established on Lewis river, by the 
Missouri Fur Company, in 1808. The Rocky moun- 
tains which divide Oregon from the valley of the Mis- 
sissippi, although generally continuous and sometimes 
rising to to the height of 16,000 feet, have yet remark. 
2* 



1816. 

(On the^ilst 
ofMarcli Mr. 
Slidell re- 
ceives Ills 
passpoits ) 



1845. 

Jan. 16. 
Chinese 
treaty. 



1192. 

(Capt. Crey. 

sailing in the 

Coluniliia, 

gives to the 

river he 

name of his 

ship.) 



34 OREGON. 

^^^^* able openings ; the most singular of which is the South 
Pass, in lat. 42° 30', which Colonel Fremont, who ex- 
plored it in 1842, describes as being in ascent no steeper 
than the Capitol Hill at Washington. 

In consequence of complaints made by American 
settlers. Congress passed an act, April 16, 1846, that a 
joint occupation with England of the disputed territory, 

(t In the formerly agreed to,f must after a year cease. 

cnnventions *" 

°* 18-^7 r'^ This difficulty with England became so serious as to 

threaten war. It was, however, compromised by a 

treaty negotiated at Washington between Mr. Packen- 

1 846. 

June iH* ham, the British Minister, and Mr. Buchanan, the 

Treaty of 

Washington. American Secretary, — which makes the northern bound- 
ary of Oregon, the line of lat. 49 deg. ; but gives to the 
British the whole of Vancouver's Island, and rights to 
the joint navigation of the Columbia river. 



CHAPTER III. 

Mexican War — Army of Occupation. 

Gen. Taylor received an order, January ISth, 1846. 
1846, to take post at the mouth of the Rio Grande. 
Perhaps the Executive, in giving this order, agreed in 

(t Wee Mr. 

opinion with Mr. SlidelLf that " the desire of the eovern- siideii's letter 

' ' "^ from Mexico 

ment (for peace) will be taken for timidity. The most "^y^y^J^^^ 

• 11 , 1 •/ , TIT • Dec.27, 1845.) 

extravagant pretences will be made, until the Mexican 
people shall be convinced by hostile demonstrations, that 
there must be settlement, either by negotiation or the 
sword." The effect of the order was, however, to preci- 
pitate the collision of arms, and to give to the Mexicans 
the advantage of the cry of invasion. Many patriotic ^^^^J[^^/ ^'^^ 
Americans believed that the Executive, intent on a war riJ, Grande.^ 
of conquest, directed this movement for the express pur- 
pose of bringing it on ; his overtures for peace not being 
made in good faith ; and that in so doing, he violated the 
constitution, by which congress is the war-making 

(t Members of 

power. T Congress had, however, given to the president, con-iress con- 
the difficult task of defending Texas, without advising baiTJn th^e 
him of what Texas was, — having received it into the '*"" "'"' 
Union with a disputed boundary to be afterwards settled. 



86 WAR IN PROSPECT. 

1816 But as Mexico at. once scornfully refused to negotiate, 
claiming the whole, — the question then occurred, ought 
the Executive to take the Mexican account of limits, or 
that of Texas, now an American state. Besides, if 
Mexico was resolved not to negotiate, but to take the 
chances of war, she could not expect other, than that her 
opponent would make whatever fair advantage she could, 
from the coming contest. 

Gen. Taylor moved from Corpus Christi on the 8th 

of March ; and after toiling ten days through an arid 

waste, lie reached the Arroya Colorado. Here he was 

met by a party of mounted Mexican marauders called 

(March 12. rauchcros. They warned him that he had reached the 

Seiior Lanzas 

^siideii'th^t' iJ'^its of Texas, and that to advance further would be 
h,iir was regarded by the Mexicans as invasion. On the 25th, 

given, — noth- ^ " . 

ing remained the armv reached Point Isabel, a small Mexican seaport, 

but w.n.) -^ ' ^ ' 

sometimes called, from the bay on which it stands, 
Brazos St. laao. The Mexican authorities in leaving 
this place had set it on fire ; but Taylor with exertion 
saved most of the buildings. The place was important 
to him, as, from the nature of the coast, this must be the 
depot for his stores. Leaving them here, with 450 men 
under Major Munroe, he advanced, and took post at the 
mouth of the Rio Grande, opposite to Matamoras. Here 

March 28. ' rr 

enc"arr^)t'op- battcrics Were soon erected by the Mexicans, pointing at 

"m s. his cam'i. This he intrenched, and immediately com- 

mencQii a fort, whose guns threatened the heart of the 

city. Yet Gen. Taylor was strictly courteous to all. 

He had come, in peace, he said, to protect Texas, not tr 



ACTUAL WAR. 37 

invade Mexico; but if attacked, he should know how to 1H46. 
defend himself. 

This attack he had hourly reason to expect. Pare- 

(April 10. 

des had put in requisition the best troops of Mexico, V°' ^ T' 

1 '^ ' ' roue out. tioni 

headed by her ablest generals, and they were gathering ai'oneTn'i 
towards the Rio Grande. On both sides of the river, Mexican ran- 

cheros.) 

all was warlike action ; here, mounting or relieving 
guards, and there, planting artillery. Gen. Arista now 
arrived, and took the command at Matamoras. The 
Mexican government made a formal declaration of war 
on the 23d of May. Gen. Arista informed Gen. Taylor 
by a polite note, dated the 24th, that he regarded hos- 
tilities as having alreadv commenced ; and on that day „ ^"'i?-^* 

o ' ' -^ Hostilities 

the flow of blood really began. Capt. Thornton with 63 '^TTiornton's^ 

capture. Am. 

dragoons was sent by Gen. Taylor a few miles up the loss, k. and 
river to reconnoitre. They fell into an ambuscade, 
and finding themselves surrounded by a far superior 
force, they attempted to retreat, cutting their way. But 
they were obliged to surrender, with the loss of 16 killed 
and wounded. 

The American congress and people were astonished 
and agitated, when Gen. Taylor's dispatch was received. Astonish- 
Their army was surrounded, and in ^danger, from the anxiety, 
soldiers who had committed the massacres of Goliad and 
the Alamo ! A kind of monomania pervaded the nation. 
The President announced to congress that the Mexicans 

^ May 11. 

had " invaded our territory, and shed the blood of our President's 

'' ' extra mes- 

citizens upon our own soil." Congress responded, that ^^°^' 
" war existed by the act of Mexico," and in two days 



38 DECLARED WAR. 

^Q"*^* passed a law authorizing 50,000 volunteers to be raised 

A?tof" con- ^c»r twelve months ; and appropriating towa^'ds the 

men and Carrying on of the war, ten millions of dollars. Thus 

money. 

were the means at once provided. Did the administration 
calculate on this, and therefore forbear to agitate in con- 
gress the subject of the war, which, with an army of less 
than 10,000, it had daily reason to expect ? — or was it 
one of those providential occurrences, of which this war 
has been so fruitful, and by which we learn, that Mexico 
was to be chastised, and that the Almighty made this 
nation his instrument ? 

Declared war being upon the hands of the Executive, 
the plan for its prosecution and results appears to have 

Plan of the 

Executive, been. — to take for indemnity and as a permanent acqui- 
sition, that part of the Mexican territory lying between 
the old United States and the Pacific ; and so to carry the 
war into the more vital and richer parts of the enemy's 
country, that he would be willing to receive peace, and 
some needful funds, though at the sacrifice of this territory 
and the relinquishment of Texas to the Rio Grande. 

The American executive, aided by the head of the 
war department, and by General Scott, now sketched 
^ay 15 & 16. oQt^ in two days', time, a plan of a campaign, exceeding, 
IcLVw^r!'''' ill the vastness of the spaces, over which it swept by sea 
and land, any thing of the kind known in history. This 
passed at once into the orders given by Mr. Marcy, secre- 
tary of war, and Mr. Bancroft, secretary of the navy. 
Under these orders vessels were to pass round Cape 
Horn to the coast of California, to aid those alreadv 



p. 48.) 



OPERATIONS ON THE RIO GRANDE. 39 

there in conquering that country. An " Army of the 1846. 

West," was to be assembled at Fort Leavenworth on the Y"*,?' "''''" f 

Missouri, and under command q{ Gen. Kearney, to take 

New Mexico, and then proceed westward to the Pacific, 

to co-operate with the fleet. An " Army of the Centre,'"' 

to be collected by Gen. Wool, from different and distant 

parts of the Union, was to rendezvous at San Antonio de 

Bexar, and thence to invade Coahuila and Chihuahua. 

These armies were not merely to be ordered forth. 

They were mostly to be created from the raw material. 

The existing regular force of the United States, officers 

and men, did not much exceed nine thousand. 

Gen. Taylor, whose force was called the " Army of 
Occupation," on finding that about 8,000 Mexican troops 
were already collected to oppose him, not only sent dis- 
patches to the war department for aid, but, as in this case 
directed, to the governors of the nearest states. The Mexican and 

~ American 

generals on both sides published proclamations ; — Arista ™'^"' '^*'*'^^- 
calling on the Mexicans to defend their invaded homes 
and altars, and on the American soldiers to desert, and 
accept ample rewards ; Taylor exhorting the Mexicans 
to embrace the opportunity of freeing themselves from 
tyrants who had subverted their constitution, and left 
them a prey to the mingled evils of despotism and 
anarchy ; and who were now seeking to make them 
believe the Americans to be their foes, — thousands of 
whom had shed their blood in the defence of Mexico 
against Spain. 

Gen. Taylor now received intelligence by Capt. 



40 VICTORIES ON THE RIO GRANDE. 

1846. Walker that a large Mexican force in his rear, was in- 
terposed between him and his stores at Point Isabel. 
Walker had there been stationed by Major Munroe to 

April 28. keep open the communication ; and he had fought fifteen 
battle. minutes with his one company of Texan rangers, (armed 
with revolving pistols,) with 1500 Mexican cavalry, — 
killed thirty and escaped ; and subsequently he had 
found his way with six men through the Mexican army 
to bring this information. 

May 1. Taylor did not hesitate. Leaving his camp at Mata- 

Taylor sets •' or 

"^Sbef"'"* J^oras with a garrison in command of that trusty veteran 
Major Brown, he marched with the main army, and 
reached Point Isabel unmolested. The Mexicans affected 
to believe that he had abandoned his works and fled. 
They attacked the camp with their batteries soon after 
he left it ; and Major Brown opened his guns upon the 

May 3 to 9. ^ity. The firing was anxiously heard by Taylor, and a 
Fort messenger for aid reached him from Major Brown. The 



Cannonade 
of 
Brown. 



th, Taylor crarrison at Point Isabel beino; reinforced by 500 men, 

s Point o & ^ 7 



leaves Point 
Isabel 



which had been supplied by Commodore Conner from 
the navy, Gen. Taylor announced to the war department, 
" I shall march this day with the main body of the army, 
to open a communication with Major Brown, and throw 
forward supplies of ordnance and provision. If the 
enemy opposes my march, in whatever force, I shall 
fight him." The same evening he marched. The next 
day at noon he came in full sight of the Mexican army, 
drawn up in order of battle, and extending a mile across 
his way. Taylor halted his men, — bade them refresh 



VICTORIES ON THE EIO GRANDE. 41 



themselves at the pools — then formed his line. Col. 1846 
Twiggs commanded the right, and Col. Belknap the left. p^J^''^^^ 



LTO. 

Mex. force 



On either wing were batteries with companies of light- g,()0(»^ 

Am. 2,300. 

artillery. At two o'clock the Mexicans opened their ,, — - 

•^ ^ Mex. loss, 

fire. The light-artillery, commanded by Ringgold and \^ jT^.'^w.' 

40. 

Duncan, did great execution. Ringgold, much lamented, 
fell mortally wounded. The Mexicans, although with 
choice of the ground, and more than double numbers, 
were forced, after five hours, to yield to the Americans 
the victory of Palo Alto. 

At two o'clock the next day the army resumed its 
march. Having advanced about three miles, the Mexi- 
cans were discovered, skilfully posted, with artillery, at 
Resaca de la Palma. A shallow ravine crossing the May 9. 
road, — its margins closely wooded by matted shrubs of a Paima. 

Mex. force, 

prickly evergreen, called chaparral, afforded them shel- ^^""^J'-^^o' 
ter. At four o'clock the Americans came up. The MeTTToss, 
field was fiercely contested. On account of the irresju- Am. k. & w. 

•^ ° mortally, 44. 

larity of the ground, the history of this battle is full of 
thrilling incident. It was here that Capt. May, with his 
dragoons, rode up to a Mexican battery, cut down the 
men, and took Gen. La Vega as he was applying a 
match to one of the guns. Young Randolph Ridgely 
and many others here won fame for themselves and their 
country. The Mexicans were wholly routed. Thoir 
camp — its stores, equipage, and Gen. Arista's private 
papers, fell into the hands of the Americans. Two 
hundred Mexicans lay dead upon the field. The flying 



10 THE WAR SPIRIT. 

1846. werepuisued; and numbers were drowned in attempt- 
ing to cross the Rio Grande. 

On arriving at the camp, Taylor and his victorious 
army carried joy to the wearied combatants. But the 
valued commander of the fort had been killed. Gen. 
Taylor named the place where he fought and fell, Fort 
Brown. 

Great were the rejoicings and illuminations in the 
United States for these victories. Taylor was forthwith 
made a major-general, and several of his officers pro- 
moted. 

Gen. Arista now proposed an armistice, which Gen. 

Taylor rejected, — not choosing longer to keep his bad 

position. He intended on the arrival of heavy mortars 

to attack Matamoras. But the military deserted it ; and 

May 18 ^^® civil authorities, receiving assurances that private 

pfiMatamo- rights would be respected, suffered the Americans to 

ras. 

take quiet possession. 

These successes having been obtained, the president 
of the United States made another attempt to treat for 
peace. His overtures were not promptly met by Seiior 
Lanzas, the secretary of Paredes, but referred to a Mex- 
ican congress to be held in December. 

While the news of the imminent danger of the army 
of the Rio Grande thrilled through the heart of the 
American nation, Gen. Gaines, the commander of the 
southern division, full of patriotic feeling, called out a 
large number of volunteers, additional to those asked for 
by Gen. Tavlor. Every where the vounij men of the 



THE WAR SPIRIT. 48 

nation were ready, nay. in haste, to go forth to defend IQ ^ ^^' 
tlieir brethren, fight the Mexicans, and push for the 
" Halls of the Montezumas."* Gen. Taylor was soon 
embarrassed by the numbers who came. They were ill 
provided with munitions ; and he not being ready to 
move, they were but consuming his stores. The war 
department decided that those of the volunteers, not 
regularly enlisted, must be dismissed. This caused 
heart-burnings and delay ; and although great energy 
pervaded the quartermaster's department, under Gen. 
Jesup, yet so much was to be provided in this sudden 
extension of the army, that it was three months before 
Gen. Taylor could move upon the interior. Meantime, 
the towns on the lower Rio Grande, were taken and 
occupied by the Americans. Camargo, made the depot 
of provisions and stores, was garrisoned with 2,000 men 
under Gen. Patterson. 

The army now being 6,000 strong, its first division, 
under Gen. Worth, began its march on the 20th of 
August. Gen. Taylor with the rear column soon fol- 
lowed. On the 5th of September, the several divisions The army at 

Marin. 

were concentrated at Marin. Movinsj on, they en- ^th, at Wai- 

<= ' -^ nut Springs. 

camped, on the 9th. at Walnut Springs, three miles from 
Monterey. Here, on the south and west towered the 
high peaks of the Sierra Madre, — while before them 
stood the walls of Monterey bristling with cannon, and 

* Mr. Prescott's very popular " History of the Conquest of Mex- 
ico," no doubt increased the war spirit so rife at this time. 



44 SIEGE OF MONTEREY. 

1846. surrounded by fortresses; — and around them an un- 
known region — an invaded country, with thousands of 
embittered foes. Most of their troops were untried 
volunteers. But they had officers, educated either 
directly or indirectly at West Point, who, in all the 
complicated acquirements belonging to military science, 
had no superiors. Especially had they a commander, 
cool and deliberate, — judicious to plan, and energetic to 
act. He looked upon the mountains, and perceived 
towards the southwest, that they were cleft by the small 
stream of the San Juan, along which, was the road from 
Saltillo to Monterey. He thought if a new way could be 
made by which the Saltillo road should be reached, the 
enemy's line of supplies would be cut, and probably less 
formidable defences intervene. The skill of the Ameri- 
can engineers, under Capt. Mansfield, found out such a 
way ; and Gen. Worth being selected for the important 

Sept. 20. service, led a column of 650 men on the 20th and 21st, 

Worth's 

party leave ^y ^ difficult dotour rouud to the Saltillo road. But they 

camp at -^ -' 

noon. ^^j ^^^ g^-^ ^l^jg advantage without loss. On the morn- 
21st, Battle ing of the 21st they successfully fought a battle, in which 
Tss 10?" ^°^' H^ys ^^^ ^^^ Texan rangers were distinguished. 

The Saltillo road being gained, the first obstacles to 

Forts FeJera- . , . , . , . 

lion and Sol- be ovorcome in approaching the city, were two batteries 

dado carried. 

on a hill. Up to these, in face of their fire, the soldiers 
marched. They were taken, and their guns turned on 
the third and principal battery, — a fortified, unfinished 
stone building, called the Bishop's Palace, situated on the 
steep hill Independence. Night came on, and the weary 



THE TAKING OF MONTEREY. I© 

and hungry soldiers had to bide the pelting of a storm. ^'*^- 
At three a party headed by Col. Childs, and conducted I'o'do^k', 

A M 

by engineers Saunders and Meade, mounted the hill. Bishop's i'ai- 

ace stormed. 

A vigorous sortie from the fort was repelled. The 
Americans entered it with the flying Mexicans, and it 
was theirs. After having taken this battery, and turned 
it against the city, the war-worn troops, now three days 
from the camp.^ their numbers thinned by death, stood 
close upon the rear of Monterey. 

Meantime, Taylor had sought to direct the attention 
of the enemy from this, his real point of attack, by 
making a feigned one in front. But so fiercely was this 
movement conducted by Gen. Butler, Capt. Backus, and 
others, that the city was entered, though with great 
sacrifice of life ; for every street was barricadoed, and 
guns pointed from every wall. The second day, a part 
of the defences were abandoned by the garrison, the 
Americans getting within the houses, and breaking 
through the walls. Gen. Quitman, who headed this Attack on 

Monterey in 

party, advanced to the Plaza. On the morning of the front. 
23d, the defences of the opposite side were assaulted and 
carried by the division of Gen. Worth. Gen. Taylor 
now passed over to Worth's quarters, where he received 
the Mexican commander. Gen. Ampudia. He came 

t " Santa 

with a flag to propose capitulation and an armistice, on ^^,","^'* 
the ground that peace might shortly be expected, — Jcom'con^ner 
Paredes beino; displaced, and Gen. Santa Anna now in Arab, in 

° ^ which he 

power. Gen Taylor knewf that in consequence of ^^'^^-^1^,/,^^* 
President Polk's hone of that wily Mexican's favorable '"''^^ '"^ 



46 THE TAKING OF MONTEREY. 

1846. disposition, he had given an order to the fleet, which 

Com. Conner obeying, Santa Anna had passed unmolested 

on his return from Cuba. Taylor had not men sufficient 

to guard the Mexican soldiers if he kept them as 

prisoners ; and his own unsupplied army needed all the 

provisions to be found in Monterey. Without the parade 

of compassion, he had its reality, and he wished to spare 

Sept. 93. especially " non-combatants." With the advice of his 

tice. officers, he therefore agreed to an armistice of eight 

weeks, on condition of the approval of the American 

Its rejection govemmeut. This, on correspondence, was withheld; 

bv Mr. Polk. mi 

and the war was renewed ; — not, however, until nearly 
six weeks had elapsed ; and not sooner would Taylor 
have oeen prepared to act, had he been at liberty. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Army of the centre. — Geu. Wool's march. — Battle of Buena Vista. 

To Gen. Wool, who had been twenty-five years an 1846. 
inspector-general in the army, the administration wisely 
confided the principal share in mustering and preparing 
for the service, the volunteers, — on whom, for want of 
regular troops, the military honor and interest of the 
republic, must in this emergency depend. 

His orders, dated May 29th, he received at Washing- Mav 29. 

*^ ^ Gen. Wool's 

ton. From thence he immediately moved through the °'"^''^ 
states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, and 
Mississippi ; — meeting the enlisted volunteers at desig- 
nated places of rendezvous, and inspecting and admitting 
them, if suitable men, into the army. These distances 
were accomplished, and twelve and a half regiments, 
(two of cavalry,) making about 12,000 men, were o^ooo^i^fies 

, - . . 11. traversed, 

mspected, mustered mto service, and sent towards their and 12,000 



men mus- 



destined places, by the 16th of July. About 9,000 of ^«'^^> 
these recruits, went to the Rio Grande to reinforce the 
army of Gen. Taylor. Those to form the " Army of 
the Centre '' were by different routes to rendezvous at 
Be.xar : — some ooinjr the far circuit of Little Rock, in 



48 GEN. wool's march. 

1846. Arkansas, and some by sea and through La Vaea. Gen. 
Wool, after making necessary arrangements in New 
Orleans for the comfort and efficiency of his troops, 

August 1. moved to La Vaea on the 1st of Auirust. From thence, 

Gen. W. at » > 

'"^rt^orda" after sending his wagon-trains, he accompanied volun- 
teers to Bexar, whose march for 40 uiles lay through a 
country submerged four inches by recent rains. At 
Bexar began that drill and strict discipline of the volun- 
teers which made Gen. Wool's corps, whether resting or 
moving, a camp of instruction ; and which, together wiih 
Gen. w^'s ^^^ great care that every article necessary to health and 
(unpopular efficiency should always be prepared and ready, gave to 

with his men 

at the time.) jt the praise of being "a model army." 

Gen. Wool's destination was Chihuahua, the heart 
of one of the richest provinces of Mexico. He began 

Gen^Mo'i ^^^ march from Bexar on the 20th of September, his 

fo^PiesidU)^' force amounting to 500 regulars and 2,440 volunteers. 
At Presidio the troops crossed the Rio Grande on a flying 
bridge prepared for the purpose. From this fertile spot 

iSbUaJ^- they marched westward 26 miles, to Nava, over a 

buildings of 11,1 . , /» t ^ n 

adobe, or un- dead Icvcl, — without finding a drop of water or a human 

burnt brick — *" 

Taii'MexN' habitation. The troops, in crossing the Sierras of San 
Jose and Santa Rosa, encountered sleep rocky asdents 
and deep mountain gorges ; and often, before their 300 
heavy laden wagons could pass, roads must be repaired 
or made. In the valley between, they found the 
unbridged torrent- rivers of Alamos and Sabino ; and at 
every turn their flesh was wounded by the prickly-pear, 
or the thorn-leaved agave. Sometimes, as the army 



GEN. WOOL S MARCH. 49 

appeared, the ignorant people of the country, taken by 1846. 

surprise, believed that the robber-bands of Mexico were 

* 

upon them. The shrieking women would run from their 
houses, and embrace the crosses by the wayside, — pro- 
bably where some friend had been killed, whose fate 
they expected to share. 

But by the better informed, Gen. Wool's approach 
was hailed with joy. He protected the quiet and 
the weak against the strong and the lawless. Before 
crossing the Rio Grande, he had rescued the children of 
a Mexican family from the Lepan Indians, and restored 
them to their parents. "His army," says Mr. Mans- 
field, "were the armed watchmen of Coahuila;" and as 
he passed on through San Fernando and Santa Rosa, to 
Monclova, his advance was heralded as that of a friend ; Gen. Wool 

at Monclova. 

and he there peacefully unfurled the American flag over 
the government-house of the province. 

At Monclova, Gen. Taylor communicated to him the 
capture and armistice of Monterey. Here also he 
learned that the projected route to Chihuahua, continuing 
along the base of the Sierra Madre, was impracticable (Troops un- 

*" der drill dnr- 

for his train : and he could only reach that place with i'.'gthearmis- 

•^ r tice ; they are 

artillery by a circuitous road leading through Parras. camjfed w'"h- 

T-iii 1 /-i mi IT 11 . ^"'' '^'^^ cities 

Jtioth lie and (jren. i aylor believed that it would be un- and villages.) 
wise thus to withdraw his force from the seat of war ; — 
since the conquest of New Leon and Coahuila, already 
achieved, gave to the Americans the command of Chi- 
huahua. 

On the 25th of November, Gen. Wool marched upon 



50 GEN. WOOL AT PARRAS. 

^Q^^* Parras, — Gen. Taylor advising him to establish a post in 

^'nee'^^" that fertile region, and collect provisions, of which his 

Monciova to army were in need, and which the country about Mon- 

I'arras. 

terey could not supply. On this march the army en- 
countered a region of calcareous marl, wiiich, for many 
miles, was like dry ashes, filling tiieir eyes and covering 
their garments. 

At Parras, General Wool was received with all the 
courtesy due to a distinguished guest. The strictness 
of his disciplme was not only improving his army, but, 
by giving the new feeling of security to a people, so long 
the victims of anarchy, he was winning their affections, 
and giving them desires for a better government.* Stores 
came in abundantly, and the necessities of the two armies 
were fully supplied. 

In the meantime Gen. Taylor had proceeded to Vic- 
toria, the capital of Tamaulipas, expecting to co-operate 
Nov. 14. '^^'^t'l Gen. Patterson and a naval force in the reduction 
surryudeied. of Tampico. But that place had surrendered to Com- 

* Already are rumors abroad that this part of Mexico has in- 
vited an American general to lead them in an attempt to establish 
an independent government. But as much the same effect has been 
produced by the American army in other parts of Mexico, we hope 
no such movement will be made ; but that all Mexico, united by 
language and religion, will have learned how much better is security 
than anarchy ; — and also, we hope, that republican America will 
learn, on her part, from Mexico, how wretched a condition is that 
of anarchy ; — so that she may avoid it by repressing, while yet in 
her power, all lawless ©jitrages. 



THE WOMEN OF PARR AS. 51 

modore Conner on the 14th of November. Gen. Butler 1846. 
was left in command at Monterey. Saltillo, the capital ^"Jtuio ' 
of Coahuila, of which the Americans had taken peacea- in possession 

of the states 

ble possession on the 17th, was garrisoned, and com- of coaimiia, 
manded by Gen. Worth. ^"'I'S'P 

The changeful Mexicans having now displaced Pare- 
des, and given full power to Santa Anna, he had concen- 
trated a force of 22,000 at San Luis Potosi. Gen. 
Worth, 60 miles in advance of Monterey, and 200 from 
Taylor at Victoria, now received the startling intelli- 
gence, that this army was immediately to be brought 
down upon him ; — he having but 900 men. He sent a ^^^n^express 
rapid express, entreating Wool to hasten to his aid with Worth!— 

Gen. Wool 

his whole force. In two hours Gen. Wool was in mo- leaves Panas. 
tion with his whole column, and his long train of wagons ; movemelft. 
and such was the condition of his soldiers, that only four- 
teen were unable, on account of ill health, to move. And 
now the gratitude of the protected people was singularly 
manifested. The ladies of Parras came forward, and 
vied with each other in offers to take the charge of these 
fourteen sick soldiers ! The best mansions of the place 
received them, the first women were their nurses, and in 
due time they were all restored.* 

* The Americans manifested afterwards their gratitude to these 
kind Mexicans. They applying to Gen. V/ool for aid on an incur- 
sion of savages, he sent to Donaphan, then in the region and under 
his command, a request which the troops of that gallant chieftain 
fulfilled by doing battle with the Camanchcs at El Poso, where Capt. 
Reid and Lieut. Gordon, with about 30 men, killed and wounded 



52 SCOTT SUPERSEDES TAYLOR. 

^Q^^* In four days the army marched 120 miles ; — when 

resting at Agua Nueva, it was twenty-one miles in ad- 
vance of Saltillo, — interposed between Gen. Worth and 
Santa Anna. It had now completed a march of 900 
miles through an enemy's country, without a gun fired, 
or a man lost. 

Gen. Taylor, while at Victoria, learned that the city 
of Mexico was to be approached by Vera Cruz ; and 
that Gen. Scott, appointed to conduct this invasion, 

Scott super- 
sedes Taylor, would, as his scuior, supersede him in the Mexican com- 
mand. Nor was tliis all. It was from Taylor's army, 
that Scott's force was to be drawn. Gen. Scott, there- 
fore, ordered from Gen. Taylor most of his efficient 
troops, — leaving him, till more could be sent by govern- 
(Gen Scott's mcut, " to staud on the defensive." Taylor, whatever 

letter to 

^dTted^Nor' '^ight have been his feelings, promptly obeyed the order ; 

and dispatched to Vera Cruz the greater part of his 

(Dec. refijular troops, and volunteers, — with Generals Worth, 

Lt. Ritchie, ir> 1 ' ' ' 

paS'^to Patterson, Quitman, Twiggs, and others, who had fought 
is massacred' SO bravcly by his side. This order reached the forces 

by the Span- 
iards, and of Gen. Wool also ; and to his great g-rief deprived him 

Santa Anna ' S> & r 

""Tn^enS" * of most of his efficient staff-officers and regular infantry, 
those whom he had as soldiers " brought up," and with 
whom he had thought to win glory, the soldier's meed. 
But this deprivation proved to the two generals the source 
of their highest fame. For with the remains of their 



40 Indians, — liberated 19 boys and girls, and restored them to their 
parents at Parras. 



PERILOUS POSITION. 53 

force, they met and bore back the shock of the most isit. 
formidable army which Mexico had ever sent to the 
field. 

Gen. Taylor on the way from Victoria to Monterey 
learned that Santa Anna, by decided demonstrations, 
was threatening him. Leaving a small garrison at 
Monterey, he advanced south with about 300 men to the 
camp of Wool at Agua Nueva. Their whole force, 
officers and men, was 4,690, and Santa Anna was Santa Anna 

a|)proaches. 

approachincT with more than four times that number, — Great ine- 

' ^ ^ ' quality of 

besides 3,000 regular cavalry under Gen. Mifion, and ^'^'^^' 
1,000 under Gen. Urrea, sent in advance, to turn the 
American position, destroy their stores, and cut off their 
retreat. This perilous situation became known to their 
distant country — to the friends and families of these 
Spartan officers and soldiers. We knew that they 
would have fought — but could they have conquered ? 
Were they victors,-~or had they died for their country's 
honor ? — And were the garrisons of the Rio Grande to 
be slaughtered, and Scott to be intercepted by a victo- 
rious foe ? 

Gen. Wool had remarked that the road from San 
Luis Potosi, seven miles south of Saltillo, and thirteen 
north of Agua Nueva, passed through a iTiountain gorge 
called Angustura, south of the small village of Buena 
Vista. On the west, a net- work of deep, impassable ra- 
vines came close to the road, while on the east, the 
mountain sent offi a succession of spurs, some of which 
came at this point close to the road. " Here," he said, 



54 Washington's bikth-day. 

184:T. "is the place which I would select, if obliged to fight a 

ctSl"'saS ^3-i'ge force with a small one." Gen. Taylor approved. 

iip"oveiit. The army remained encamped at Agua Nueva until the 



afternoon of the 21st of February. Santa Anna was 

approaching. Gen. Miiion had already captured Majors 

ffCassiusM. Borland and Gaines with a reconnoitering party. f The 

Clay is of the 

captured camp at Aiiua Nueva was broken up, and Santa Anna, 
believing that his foes were flying in dismay, eagerly 

Santa Anna, i . i 

deceived, is pursued, till he was drawn to their chosen position. 

diavvu to a 

bad position. Gou. Wool was left by Taylor the active commander at 
Buena Vista ; while he, anxious for his stores menaced 
by Minon, went to Saltillo. 

On the morning of the 22d, Gen. Wool drew up the 
army for battle. The gorge was the key of the position. 

Feb. 22. 

Buena Vis- Here was placed Capt. Washington's battery. This was 

THE BIRTHDAY OF THE GREAT WASHINGTON, and the battlc- 

cry was to be, " The memory of Washington !" On 
a height opposite the deep ravines, and contiguous to the 
gorge, were placed the volunteers of Illinois and Ken- 
tucky, under Colonels Hardin, Bissell, and M'Kee. 
Bragg's battery was beyond the ravines on the right ; 
while on the left, O'Brien's battery, with most of the 
remaining regiments, were on plateau-elevations between 
the mountain and the road. From their positions the 
troops looked out through the gorge to the south, and 
beheld, issuing from clouds of dust, the long array of the 
Mexican host, — glittering with burnished arms, and gor- 
geous with many-colored draperies. As they come 
nearer, their delicious music charms for a moment even 



Mexican ar- 
my appears. 



BUENA VISTA. 65 

the stern car of war! But the shouts of the Americans 18 if. 
rise louder, — as Gen. Taylor, whom they regard as in- 
vincible, appears upon the field. 

At eleven o'clock, Santa Anna sent to Taylor a use- 
less summons of surrender. About noon the Mexicans ^p^'''^ 
pushed forward a party to the heights on the east, or (See CaV.'' 

Carleton's 

American left. At three o'clock beiijan the battle, b**"'" "J^"- 

^ ena Vista ") 

Volunteer riflemen, under Col. Marshall, met the ad- k.^& w'more 
vanced Mexicans, i hey made no impression upon the Am. w. 4, 
American lines, while they suffered loss. 

Night came. The Americans remained under arms. 
Santa Anna's arrangements were those of an able com- 
mander. A strong column, headed by Gen. Mora y 
Villamil, he directed to attack the gorge defended by 
Washington's battery. This charge was in the morning 
made, met, and repulsed. Generals Pacheco and Lom- 
bardini, with their thousands, were early in the night 
climbino; the hejojhts on the east. Two hours after mid- 
night they drove in the American pickets. Major Mans- 
field discovers their approach, and the watchful CoL 
Churchill is near to give information to Gen. Lane, then 
in command of the American loft. Gen. Taylor was 2o'ci(?dc 

A M 

not upon the field, for his night had again been spent in Mexi.-ans at- 
providing for the safety of his stores at Saltillo ; — and ''^'''•,, ^"'"^^ f' 
Gen. Wool had just left the plateau, and gone to the ton'rpo'-^t at 

the gor;zc, 

gorire to see if all was right there. Gen. Lane ordered where they 

"" ^ '- are repulsed.) 

forward the battery of O'Brien, with a supporting regi- 
ment of Indiana volunteers under Col. Bowles. The 
Mexicans advanced, — their arms and standards glittering 



56 BUENA VISTA. 

^^ ^'i' gorgeously to the sun. They gain the heights and plant 
their heavy batteries. Impetuously they now attack the 
Americans, and with a tenfold force. The volunteers 
return the fire, and check the enemy, when Col. 
Bowles orders a retreat. It became a rout which could 
not bo stopped, though Capt. Lincoln, the aid of Wool, 
lost his precious life in attempting the rally. O'Brien 
stood, with Bryan his associate, and checked their pro- 
gress, until men and horses were killed ; and when he 
retreated, one gun could not be I'emoved. 

The Mexicans were gaining ground. Their right 
was turning the American left. Gen. Taylor arrives. 
Col. Jefferson Davis, with his Mississippians, comes for- 
ward, callino; to the retreatino;, to form in the shelter of 
his column. Col. Bowles, unable to rally his men, 
seizes the rifle of a private, and enters the ranks. For- 
ward press the few against the many ; nor pause for 

Col. Davis dano-er or death, until, close to the foe, their rifles give 

and the Mis- o ' ' ' => 

wittfXagg's the unerring fatal fire. A yell and a rush, and the 

battery, re- i • i i i i 

cover the voluntcers have crossed a ravine, and stand close to the 

ground on the 

left. Mexicans, forcing them to retreat. Thousands of the foe 
are ready to fill the places of the slain. But the bat- 
teries of Bragg and Sherman have now arrived. They 
pour a fire too rapid and deadly to be resisted, and the 
ground is regained. 

Meantime, bodies of the Mexican cavalry had passed 

between the combatants and the mountains, and gone 

The camp at- towards the rear, where they menaced the camp at 

tacked and 

defended. Bucua Yista. Gen. Taylor ordered Col. May, with his 



BUENA VISTA. 57 

184T. 



dragoons and other cavalry, to follow and attack them 
Col. Yell of the Arkansas volunteers here fell bravely- 
fighting. Major Dix, a paymaster, seized the standard 
of the flying Indianians — called on them to follow, — and 
never suffer the flag of their state to leave the battle- 
field but in triumph. Many turned and fought. The tiSmuilSm 
Mexicans, thus resolutely met, veered about, and bemo; period of the 

_ battle.) 

joined by a fresh brigade, they now attempted to gain 

the road, from whence they might attack from the rear. 

The Mississippians were drawn up. The Mexican , 

cavalry came gallantly on. The Mississippians stood 

and fired not. Surprised, the horsemen check their 

career — and, for one suicidal moment, they halt. The 

next — each unerrinsj rifle had brouo;ht down its man. 

Sherman's battery had arrived, and the foe were unable 

to rally. Other American troops with artillery pressed 

closer and closer ; and some thousands of Mexicans are Dishonorable 

in danger of being cut off from the main body. Santa Santa^Aima 

in using a flag 

Anna dispatches a flag of truce to Taylor, desiring to ^o deceive, 
know what he wants. Gen. Wool, attempting to go with 
a reply, perceives the treachery of Santa Anna, and 
declares the truce at an end. 

The American firing having been suspended by 
order, the endangered Mexicans escaped ; while, not only 
did two of the Mexican batteries continue their fire, but 
Santa Anna used the time to change the position of 
another, in preparation for his final desperate struggle. 
This was made against the centre, where Gon. Taylor 



58 BUENA VISTA. 

IS'II'. commanded in person ; — and by Santa Anna himself, 
wiih his entire reserve. 

O'Brien with his battery again stood foremost, and 

Colonels Hardin, Bissell, Clay, and M'Kee were in the 

hottest of the battle. But the odds against them is over- 

of the whSie whelming. Again O'Brien, now with Lieut. Thomas, 

armies, under 

the two com- stands and checks the foe, till men and horses are slain, 

manders. 

and now, as he retreats, he leaves two of his guns. 
Mexican lancers drive the infantry into a ravine. 
M'Kee, Hardin, Clay, and many others fall. Bragg and 
Sherman, straining every nerve, advance with their 
batteries, and in the face of death, maintain their ground, 
and save the battle. Washington's battery too, — often 
attacked through the day, — now by turning on the 
Mexican lancers, and protecting the American infantry, 
saved a field, in which, with such disparity of force, 
there were many chances to lose where there was one 
to win. 

Santa Anna was obliged to draw back his much 
diminished forces. The second night came on. Officers 
and men were on the alert, and horses in harness. The 
field was strewed with the lifeless victims of war. The 
B^Jg^'fyJ"/ American surgeons ^and their assistants administered to 
the wounded, whether friend or foe. Mexican women 
were there, to soothe the dying, or wail the dead. 

The Americans were prepared to renew the contest. 
Outposts had made astonishing marches, and had reached 
the camp. Gen. Marshall, with his mounted Kentuck- 



VICTORY. 59 

1S4T. 



ians, and Capt. Prentiss with liis artillery, had travelled 
from the Pass of Rinconada, — 35 miles of bad road, — 
in one day. 

With the earliest dawn of the morning Gen. Wool, 
abroad to reconnoitre, discovered that the enemy were Feb. 2.V4. 

r, T, TT • • I I 1 ^ Santa Anna 

ui full retreat. Hastenmg with the news to the teni ot retreats. 

Am. loss, 

Taylor, they embraced and wept, — while the shouts of '^j^'''^' ^- ^^^^• 
victory rang over the battle-field. mUsiiT- 4ooo. 

Presuming that he should conquer, Santa Anna had 
detached regular forces under Minon and Urrea, to cut 
off the retreat of the Americans ; while hordes of 
rancheros were sent to the mountain passes to kill every Santa Anna's 

pieparaliiins 

straiTcrler. General Urrea, with 1,000 cavalry, went ^" ^^V^ of ^''^ 

o& ' ' •> ' whole Amer- 

into the vicinity of Monterey, where at Ramas a wagon- ^^'^^ ^'^"^^' 
train was captured, and forty-five wagoners barbarously 
murdered. Both these generals from the 22d to the 26th 
menaced the weakened outposts of Taylor's army ; and 
both Avere attacked and defeated. Gen. Miiion, on the 
23d, interposed a body of 1,800 cavalry between Buena 
Vista and Saltiilo, threatening the rear of the army. 

Of,t]j 

lie was gallantly driven away, with the loss of 60 of his AsuaFrio. 

Mex. loss, 

men, by Capt. Webster, aided by Lieut Shover. Gen. k. & w. 60. 

Urrea was defeated by Colonels Morgan and Irvin on the 

26th, at Agua Frio, near Monterey. On the 7th of March 7. 

'" Ceralvo. 

March, Major Giddings with 260 men, having a train of ^^J-g,*!]'*'®' 
wagons in convoy, was attacked near Ceralvo by 1,600 "111 

Mex. loss, 

Mexicans; — the party of Urrea combined with that of k. &w. 45, 

' ^ -^ Am. 17. 

Gen. Romera. The Americans bravely defended them- 
selves, and compelled the enemy to retreat. 



60 RETURN OF GEN. TAYLOR. 

1841. The victory of Buena Vista, without which the 

guerilla warfare would have borne a different aspect, left 
the Americans after these affairs in quiet possession of 
the northern provinces of Mexico proper. Active 
operations being here at an end. Gen. Taylor, after a few 
months, returned to receive high honors from his 
country ; — and Gen, Wool, " without fear and without 
reproach," was left at Monterey to govern and protect 
the conquered region. 



CHAPTER V. 

Army of the West — Conquest of New Mexico and California. 
A FLEET consisting of one frigate and nine smaller 1816. 



vessels, was already on the coast of California, when the 
war commenced. Commodore Sloat, the commander, 
was advised by the navy department, that war with 
Mexico mif^ht occur;! that he must be careful to ob- (t See Mr. 

° ' ' Bancroft's or- 

serve the relations of peace, unless they were violated ^^1^°^ j^J"^- 

by the opposing party ; but if this should take place, he 

was, without further notice, to employ his fleet for hostile 

purposes. Being led to suppose that war existed, 

Com. Sloat took Monterey on the 7th of July, 1846 ; and juiy7. 

Monterey in 

raised the American flag without opposition. On the ^JJ'^^^j,'*' 
9th, Francisco, north of Monterey, was taken by a part ^"'"- '^'°^*- 
of the squadron, acting under the orders of Com. Mont- 
gomery. On the 15th, arrived a second frigate under istji^: ^Arrival 
Com. Stockton. On the 17th, Com. Sloat dispatched a ^Mouterey^* 
party to the mission of St. John, to recover cannon and 
other munitions which the enemy had there deposited. 
At this place the American flag had already been planted 
by Col. Fremont, — who, with sixty-three men, had been 
sent out in 1845 by the government with the ostensible 



mon 
rations. 



62 COL. Fremont's expedition. 

184: 2-3. object of making peaceful explorations. He had, as an 
^"*t'.ex^'io- officer of the corps of topographical engineers, been 
employed in the years 1842-3, in exploring the great 
rivers, valleys, prairies, lakes, and mountain-passes on 
the grand route to Oregon ; and he had manifested, by 
his keen observation, his hardy endurance, untiring ac- 
tivity, courage and conduct among the Indian tribes — the 
incipient germ of the great military commander. He 
was opportunely on the ground at the breaking out of 
the war. The Mexicans menaced him, although he had 
obtained leave of Gen. Castro, the military commandant, 

^laiseTthe* ^0 wintcr near the San Joaquin. f 

Am. flag, but ^ in*- i -n 

Castro did not feuDsequentiy all Americans were threatened, rre- 

attaek. He 



pait ot Sacramento. They added to his force, and he swept out 



went, for a Yuout Went and aroused the settlers in the valley of the 

time, to the -^ 

uth part o: 
Oregon.) 

the Mexican authorities from the northern interior. The 

(Th^Jflf" of American Californians, July 6th, declared their independ- 

ant was ° Uie onco, and placcd Fremont at the head of their government. 

Bear and the 

Star;" hence A few days after, news came that war existed between 

they were 

BeM-Men.'") ^^^® United States and Mexico ; when the Californian colors 

were joyfully pulled down, and the American hoisted. 
(Com. Stock- Com. Stockton constituted the 160 men under Fremont, 

ton, in tuil 

CoiTsiolt " a navy battalion." This force sailed to San Diego, where, 

u. s., July united to the marines, their leaders marched upon, and oc- 

cupied Los Angeles. Here Com. Stockton proclaimed him- 

(Com. s. self governor, and established civil government. Leaving 

was at Diego, 

and Fremont a Small garrison, the commanders went north. In Sep- 

on his march, 

KealnJ^ar- tembor, a Mexican force, under Gen. Flores and Don Pico, 
led in a revolt — retook Angeles, and other places. Stock- 



VOLUNTEERS OF THE WEST. 60 

ton sailed with his marines to San Diego. Fremont in- 18'46. 
creased his battalion to 428 ; and marched from Monterey 
south, to co-operate with Stockton in quelling the revolt. 

(.\rmy ( f the 

Immediately after the openinp^ of the war. orders vvest— ht 

' ^ rejT. under 

were issued by the Executive for organizing an " Army ^^'^h^IjI^^"' 

n ^ TTT ■>■! ^ i i i ^ T^ /- Tiifaiitrv H3, 

01 the West, to be commanded by Gen. Kearny ; — for Lt. aiti'i. '2:>o, 

Diai;ooiis 

the object of takincr, and placingr under American laws, ,. :*"'^- ^ 

J e' r o ' IG pieces of 

New Mexico and California. This army was to be com- °""^"''®-'' 
posed of mounted volunteers from the state of Missouri, 
with one battalion of infantry, one of light-artillery, and 
one of dragoons. 

They began, June 5th, to appear at the rendezvous, 
which was Fort Leavenworth. The choice of field-offi- 
cers for the first Missouri regiment was regarded by the 
volunteers as peculiarly important ; because, in the 
event of the death of Gen. Kearny, on the colonel of 
this regiment would devolve the command of the army. 
The men elected by the volunteers had entered their 
ranks as privates. Doniphan was chosen colonel ; Ruff, Donfphan 
lieutenant-colonel ; and Gilpin, major.* All were for 
twenty days instructed by such of their officers as had 
been West Point students ; and thus, the military science 

* There was some difficuhy about officering the volunteers — 
the government preferring to select the high officers. Subsequently 
the Executive of the United States appointed Col. Sterling Price to 
the command of a regiment of volunteers, which were to follow and 
reinforce Kearny. The volunteer regiment, however, held an elec- 
tion, in which they very wisely elected Col. Sterling Price, to the 
place previously assigned him by government. 



64 KEARNY S MARCH. 

1846. infused into this celebrated school, by Col. Sylvanus 
^" Libert^' '°* Thayer and his associates and successors, now became 
voiuuteeroffi- as rapidly transfused into the quick minds of the volun- 

cers with 

flags- teers of the West, as were the military arts into the 
""ditro'n ^\T well-formed, active frames of this remarkable body of 

Hughes.) . ^ 

recruits.^ 

General Kearny, having sent forward his baggage, 

June 20-29. ^^^ taken in convoy the annual train of merchants' 

iVmarch. wagons, now numbering 414, (going to trade at Santa 

June 30 p^ ^^^^ Chihuahua,) set out with his army on the last 

Reaches the ''' •' 

Kansas. ^^ June. They moved southwesterly across the river 

July 12. I 1 /> 1 rr 114 1 

Reaches the Platte, — the branches or the Kansas, — along the Arkan- 

Aikansas. 

sas to Bent's Fort ; — thence south and southwesterly to 
Santa Fe. 

A great portion of the region moved over was prairie; 
— one wide, wild, unmeasured level, or gently undulating 
field ; — sometimes green, as far as the eye could roach, 
with tall, rank grass, — and sometimes gay with unnum- 
bered flowers, — perhaps blushing, far round, with the 
varieties of the prairie rose, — or tinged orange with the 
wild lily ; and sometimes showing the pale green and 
From June to delicate white and red of the moccason flower, the " belle 
Praidfscenes. of the prairie." Along the Arkansas the troops found 

* Willard P. Hall was chosen from their ranks, as a member to 
congress, and received at Santa Fe news of his election. But he 
proceeded as a private to California, from whence he returned with 
Kearny by the South Pass, — then went to Washington, and took his 
seat in congress. Another from the ranks of these volunteers was 
chosen into the state legislature of Missouri. 



halt", and af- 
lerwards to 
one-third.) 



Kearny's march. 65 

great herds of bufflilo ; and cheerily joined tlie hunt, and ^Q^^« 
enjoyed the feast. But they had many hardships. The 
ground was often so soft and spongy, that the wagons 
sunk ; and the strength of the men must be added to that 
of the horses to drag them forth. Again chasms must 
be filled, and torrents bridged ; and sometimes the volun- 
teers must lie down at night in places infested with 
serpents, horned-frogs, lizards, and musquitoes. Often 
they made long marches without water, and sometimes 

n , m 1 • (t From July 

with scarcely any food.t Twice occurred amonc]^ their 8— rations 

•^ -^ ' ^ were cut 

horses that singular outbreak, called " estampeda." The '^^^^^ '« °»^ 
first was a few miles below Bent's Fort. Here the ani- 
mals were turned loose ; and while feeding in the prairie, 
a few of them took fright at an Indian. The panic was 
communicated. The keepers tried to stop the flight, 

July 29 

but " a thousand horses were dashing over the plain, Estampeda 
enraged and driven to madness by the iron pickets and 
the lariats which goaded and lashed them at every step." 
About sixty-five of the best were irrecoverably lost.f 

As Gen. Kearny approached the capital of New 
Mexico, he heard rumors of a formidable military force 
which the governor, Don Manual Armijo, had collected 
to oppose his progress ; and he put his army in battle 
array to meet them at the caiion or pass of Galisteo, 
fifteen miles from Santa Fe. But the governor's own 
heart, or that of his troops, had failed. Kearny peace- 
fully entered the citv, containinsj 6,000 inhabitants, and, 

•^ " ' ^ ' Augnst 18. 

occupying the governor's palace, he planted above it, gnters^S'nu 
Aucrust the 18th, the standard eagle of Republican 



near Bent's 
fort. 



(t See 

Hughes' 

Doniphan.) 



66 

1846. America. Thus had the anny in fifty days accomplished 
this desert march of nearly 900 miles. 

Neither Santa Fe nor the surrounding country, offered 

any cogent objections to receiving the government, which 

Gen. Kearny next proceeded to establish ; — according 

to his understanding of directions, which he had received 

Heestabiishes from the War department. On the day after his entrance, 

civil govern- 

"^^^'^- he proclaimed himself governor of New Mexico. " You 
are now," said he, " American citizens ; — you no longer 
owe allegiance to the Mexican government." The 
principal men then took the oath required ; swearing in 
the name of the Trinity to bear true allegiance to the 
laws and government of the United States. Whoever 
was false to this allegiance, the people were told, would 
be regarded and punished as a traitor. 

These measures gave rise to much discussion in the 
American capitol when they became known ; the 
question being, whether the administration had or had not 
transcended its constitutional powers, in thus annexing, 
without any action of congress, a territory to the 
American Union. 

Gen. Kearny having now taken possession of New 

Mexico, and organized a government, — of which he 

made Charles Bent the chief executive, — it next 

Sept. 25. became his duty to proceed to California. He appointed 

Kearnyleaves „ ,-. i i • 

Santa Fe. CoL. DoNiPHAN to succecd hmi ui the provmce ; with 
orders, however, tliat on the arrival of volunteers under 
Col. Price, Doniphan should leave him in command, 



Debates in 

congress. 



SAN TASCAL. 67 

proceed with his regiment and some additional forces to 1846. 
Chihuahua, and there report to Gen. Wool. 

Proceeding down the Rio Grande, Kearny was met (tThiswas 

Kit Carson. 

by an expressf from Col. Fremont, — by which he learned ^o,°iJ]5''w?n^ 
that California was already conquered. Selecting 100 meTto Mr" 

Fitzpatrick, 

men as his escort, he ordered the return of his main »»'! retain as 

guide ) 

force to Santa Fe. Crossing the Rio Grande in latitude 

33°, he reached th^ river Gila, at the copper mines, on 

the 20th of October ; and following its course, he arrived 

at its mouth on the 22d of November, in lat. 32°. From 

this point he kept along, or near the Colorado, forty 

miles ; thence westerly sixty miles, through an arid 

desert. On the 2d of December, Gen. Kearny reached 

Wamas' village, the frontier settlement of California. 

Pursuing his way, he was met on the 5th, near San 

Diego, by Capt. Gillespie, sent to him with 36 men, by 

Com. Stockton,! now acting governor of California. A ^'■'s^4qSst" 

corps of the enemy were near. The next morning the S messen- 
ger.) 
general, expecting an encounter, mounted his little party 

on the jaded beasts they had ridden from Santa F6, 1050 B^ule^of 

miles, and at day-dawn went forth to San Pascal, — 

where he engaged 160 mounted Californians. The 

Americans were victorious ; — but those more northern 

11. 1 111 (t7th.— Ams. 

troops sold victory at a dearer rate, than the southern again drive 

^ "^ tliefoe. 

Mexicans. Kearny was twice wounded. Captains ^J';,'^"^^^ Ty 
Johnson and Moore and Lieut. Hammond were killed ; — b^u.ged^'n 

camp. ('ar- 

— indeed more than half the officers were either killed sonandBeaie 

go to btoek- 



or wounded, with 19 of the men.f When the surgeon ^oth--S»o ma- 
appeared, the commander directed, "first dress the relieve them.) 



68 SAN GABRIEL. 

1846. wounds of the soldiers ;" and then fell, — fainting with 
exhaustion. Happily his wounds were not dangerous. 
He reached San Diego on the 12th of December. 

On the 29th of that month, by Com. Stockton's re- 
quest. Gen. Kearny took the command of 500 marines 
with the land forces ; and marched to the vicinity of 
Ciudad los. Angeles, to quell a rising of the inhabitants, 
backed by a Mexican army of 600, under Generals 
Flores and Pico. These forces were met and defeated 
Jan. 8 and 9. at Sau Gabriel, on the 8th of January : and on the 9th, 

Battles of ^ ^ ^ ' 

fndt^ieMeL^ wcrc again fought and routed at the Mesa. They then 
about 20.' marched 12 miles past Angeles to Cowenga, where they 

Mex.loss, 

70 or 80. capitulated to Col. Fremont, who, wdth his battalion had 
now arrived at that place. Com. Stockton, January 16, 
commissioned Col. Fremont as Governor.* He dis- 
charged the functions, until the 1st of March ; when 
Gen. Kearny, according to his orders, assumed the office 
and style of Governor of California. f 

Col. Cooke W'ith the Mormon battalion, had, from 

* It was not until these pages were stereotyped, that docu- 
ments existed, by which a correct account could be given of the 
unhappy disagreement between Kearny, Stockton, and Fremont. 
The reader will now find a circumstantial account, in the accom- 
panying History of California. 

t At Fort Leavenworth Gen. Kearny arrested Col. Fremont, 
who was tried and condemned to lose his commission. The Pre- 
sident, however, pronounced his pardon ; but Fremont (June, 
1848) resigned ; maintaining that he had done no wrong, and 
desired no clemency. 



Kearny's return. R9 

Santa F6, proceeded down the Del Norte ; then sending ^Q ^^* 
back his sick to the Arkansas, where were 900 Mormon oct. is. 

The Mormon 

families on their way to California, he here took a route, battaii n 

leaves Santa 

which deviated to the south from that of Kearny, and led ^^• 
him through a better road and a more interesting region. 
By direction of the war department. Gen. Kearny 
placed Col. Mason in the office of chief magistrate of 
California ; and, on the 16th day of June, 1847, he took june le' 

^ . Kearny leaves 

his way homeward across the Kocky Mountains, by the CaiUomia. 

South Pass ; being accompanied by Colonels Fremont 

and Cooke, — Hon. Willard P. Hall, (who had been 

elected to congress,) with other officers and privates, to 

the number of forty. On the 22d of August, the party Aug. 2-2. 

•^ & ' r .7 At Fort Lea- 

were at Fort Leavenworth ; when Gen. Kearny imme- ^'e'lworth. 

diately repaired to Washington, — having twice crossed 

the continent in little more than a year. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Doniphan's Expedition to Chihuahua — Revolt iu New Mexico. 
1846. Three days after Gen. Kearny's departure from 



Sept. 28. Santa Fe, Col. Price arrived with his recruits. Col. 

Col. Price ar- 
rives at Santa Doniphau was awaiting this event to commence his 

Oct. ij. march upon Chihuahua. But on the 11th of October he 

Donipl.an or- . i n y^ tt- ^ i t 

dered against rcceivcd au Order from Gen. Kearny, dated " near La 

the Navajo 

Indians. Joya," to march with his regiment against the Navajo 
Indians, — their chiefs not having come to Santa Fe to 
hold a peace-council with those of other Indian nations, 
as they had been invited, and as they had promised to 
do ; — but instead of this, they had made war on " the 
inhabitants of New Mexico, now forming a part and 
under the protection of the United States." 

Winter was approaching, and the abodes of the 
powerful Navajoes, the " mountain-lords " of unknown 

(TheNavajos ^ '' 

se4*li mS- I't^gio^s, extended far to the west. The more thoroughly 
bn*°nd'tak- to scour their country. Col. Doniphan divided his 

en captive 

many women renimeut iuto three parties, — one under Maior Gilpin, to 

andciiildren.) ^ ^ ' J r 5 

take a northern route ; one under Col. Jackson, a 
southern, while Doniphan himself was to take a 
central range. All were to meet at Ojo Oso, or the Bear 



THE NAVAJOES. 71 

Springs, — bringing in the chiefs, there to hold a council. 181C. 

At the same time a detachment under Capt. Walton, 

went down the Del Norte to Valverde, to convey the 

train of merchant wacons for the Chihuahua trade. „, . „., . 

^ (Major Gilpin 

Here they were menaced by a Mexican force; but about ^lo 

c 1 /-I T-1 • 1 /^ niilc's among 

fortunately 200 men, under Capt. Burgum, whom Gen. the Indians) 
Kearny had sent back, now came up, and joining the 
escort, they were too strong to be attacked. The three 
parties then set forward ; and, after incredible hard- 
ships, thrilling adventures among strange savages, — in 
crossing the heights and chasms of unexplored moun- 

Nov. 2. 

tains, where one false step would precipitate man and (Coi d. left 

^ ^ ^ theDelNuite. 

horse into unfathomed abysses — after losing several p^ljrnedto 
lives of their men by frost, poorly clad as they were, 
among snows and mountain-storms, — they finally ac- 
complished their object. 

Capt. Reid, of Jackson's division, with thirty young 
men, had volunteered to accompany Sandoval, a Navajo 
chief, five days through mountain-heights, — to a grand 
gathering of the men and women of the tribe. They 
were completely in the power of the Indians ; but they 
won their hearts by gayety and confidence. Most of the 
five hundred whom they met at the feast, had never seen 
a white man. Reid and his companions joined the 
dance, sung their country's songs — and what pleased the 
Navajocs most, interchanged with them their costume. 
The head chief, Narbona, though sick and aged, came 
to the camp of the strangers, — lodged with them, and 
favored their mission. Thus were the savages persuaded 



72 BATTLE OF BRACITO. 

1846. to agree to what would please those whom they liked ; 
(PreJenf at ^Ithough, as spoken by Sarcilla Largo, a Navajo chief, 
189 Amerl"" it struck them as very singular, that the Americans, 

cans, 500 Na- 

vajoes,; coming to fight the New Mexicans, who had never 
injured them, should make a point of preventing the 
Navajoes from doing the same thing, though the New 
Mexicans had long been their enemies. Nevertheless, 
if their new friends really did possess New Mexico, 
they would, they said, cease their depredations. Ac- 
Nov. 22 cordinMy at Bear Springs, on the 22d of November, a 

Treaty made. ° -^ f o ' ' 

treaty was made in form ; and the three parties, 
Americans, New Mexicans, and Navajoes. were, by its 
conditions, to live in perpetual peace. 

Col. Doniphan made the camp at Valverde the place 

of rendezvous for the troops wiio were to accompany 

him. Some regulars of the light-artillery, with ten 

pieces of cannon, were by his direction to be sent from 

Dec. 14-19. Santa Fe. In the middle of December he moved 

Doniphan's 

army move j^ig armv in three divisions south, with his bacj^ffasre- 

from Val- -' ' ob o 

^^^^^' wagons, and merchant-trains in convoy. He now 

crossed a dreary desert of ninety miles, called the 

Dec. 22. "Journey of the Dead," where there was little of water. 

At Donanna, -^ ' ' 

El' Paso!"" food, or fuel. At Doiianna the army found refreshment. 
Proceeding in the direction of El Paso — at Bracito, on 
the Del Norte, they encountered a Mexican force, com- 
manded by Gen. Ponce de Leon. He dispatched an 
officer with a hlackftag, demanding of the American 
commander to appear before him. On refusal, he said 
in haughty defiance, " We neither ask quarter nor give 



EL PASO DEL NORTE. 73 

it." The Mexicans advanced, firing three rounds. *Qt^' 
The Missouri ans, falling on their faces, were supposed BaTtie'of 
to be dead, but suddenly rising, they delivered a fire so Mex. force 

•^ ° 1,200, 

fatal that the foe fled in confusion, leaving about 200 , ^f- 'o^^ 

' '-' k. about 50, 

killed and wounded. The Americans had but seven Am.Sce 

engaged 500, 

wounded, and none killed. w. '7. k. o. 

In the delightful valley of El Paso del Norte, the 

troops were fully recruited ; and they were joined here 

184'T» 
by the artillery companies from Santa Fe, under Clarke (ei Paso 

noted for deli- 

and Weightman. Their march from El Paso was forth clous wines.) 
into unknown hostile regions. And now they had learned 
that Gen. Wool was not at Chihuahua. No army was 
there for their defence. Missouri became anxious for 
the fate of her sons. But fearlessly they pressed on. 
They encountered as they went from the Del Norte a 
desert sixty-five miles in extent, in which their sufferings 
became so intense from thirst, that the whole army were 

Feb. 8. 

in danger of perishing. Many animals, and some men Army leave* 
gave out, and lay down to die. Many officers and sol- 
diers threw all aside, and were running with their last Great 'distress 

from thirst. 

Strength to reach a lake ten miles distant. But that 
Providence which so often saved our armies during 
this war, relieved their sufferings by a shower so copious, 
that the torrent-streams came dashing from the rocks, 
to refresh and save them. Having at length reached 
the lake, (Laguna de los Patos,) they remained to recruit, 
one day only, and on the 18th resumed their march. 

Col. Doniphan, as he approached Chihuahua, learned 
that an army of 4,000 men had been raised to oppose 



74 THE PASS OF SACRAMENTO. 



1847. 



_ him by Don Angel Trias, governor of the province ; and 
Bauie^f he met this formidable force strongly posted, and fortified 

SacRaMEN- . , , ^ n o a • \ 

TO With heavy ordnance, at the 1 ass oi oacramento, eighteen 

Mex. force 

Am'Sce "^^^^s from the capital. No more daring deeds were 
— done during the war, than those which now distinguished 

Mex. loss, 

k 130(1, w. 300. this little army of about a thousand brave men. Capt. 

Am. loss, "^ 

k. 1, w. id. i^gi(j's charge, when at the head of the cavalry he out- 
rode all his fellows in the storming of the enemy's 
battery, is a specimen of the manner in which the 
Americans here defeated quadruple numbers of their 
enemies, — fighting on ground of their own selection, — 
under the eye of Trias their governor, of Gen. Heredia 
their military commander, and of Gen. Conde, former 
minister of war, — a scientific man, who, says Col. Doni- 
phan, "planned their whole field of defence." 

Having completely routed the army, the city and pro- 
vince of Chihuahua were at the mercy of the conqueror. 
Captains Reid and Weightman, both distinguished in the 
battle, were sent the following day to take military 
possession of the capital. Col. Doniphan having col- 
lected the trophies of his victory, entered the succeeding 

D^rphaifen- day, March 2d, with the main army ; and planted the 

tersChiliua- , . 

hua. colors of his country, over a city contaming forty thou- 
sand inhabitants, and having in its vicinity some of the 
richest mines in Mexico. In this salubrious climate, his 
soldiers enjoyed six weeks of the opening spring ; then 
May 2-2. Hiarched by Parras to Saltillo, where at length they met 
Gen. Wool. But Buena Vista was past, and their term 
of service expired on the last of May. By Comargo and 



REVOLT IN NEW MEXICO. 75 

the Rio Grande, they arrived at New Orleans, on the l^'iT' 
15th of June ; having marched 5,000 miles since they 
left the Mississippi. 

In the meantime the New Mexicans had secretly 
conspired to throw off the American yoke. Simultane- 
ously, on the 19th of January, massacres occurred at Massacre of 

Gov Bent 

Fernando de Taos, where were cruelly murdered Gov. ami J8 others. 
Charles Bent, Sheriff Lee, and four others, — at Arroija 
Honda, where seven Americans were killed, — at Rio 
Colorado two, — and at Mora four. Col. Price, the 
military commander of Santa Fe, received the startling 
intelligence on the 20th ; when he learned that a force, 
hourly increasing, approached him. He sent expresses 
to call in his outposts, and on the 2.3d marched with 350 
men, — met the foe on the 24lh, near the small town of Victories of 

Col. Price. 

Canada, attacked and defeated him. On the 29th, Col. J^"- -^^ 

' Canada. 

Price, now reinforced by Capt. Burguin from Albuquer- 
que, again encountered the enemy, — and defeated him 
at the mountain-£i:oro;e called the Pass of Emhudo. The J^"- '^■ 
Americans next had a march over the Taos mountain, about i.soo. 

Am. 479. 

through snows two feet in depth, with a degree of cold 
so intense, that many had their limbs frozen. They 
passed unmolested through Fernando de Taos ; but at 
Puebla, they met the enemy, stormed his fortifications, Feb. 5. 

X UEBLA DR 

and drove him from his position. The valuable lives of '^'*'°^' 
Capt. Burguin and other officers, were here lost. Capt. 
Hendley was killed on the 22d of January, in an attack 
on Mora. That village was destroyed on the 3d of "^jv^or!?.' 
February, by a detachment under Capt. Morin. The 



76 RETURN OF GEN. PRICE. 

184:T. loss of the Mexicans in all these engagements is supposed 
to have been about three hundred killed ; the number 
of wounded unknown. The Americans lost in killed 
and wounded about sixty. Fifteen Mexicans were exe- 
cuted as conspirators. 

But although the Americans had conquered, they 
now lived in fear of secret conspiracy. The Indians 
also, especially the Camanches, showed themselves hos- 
tile. Along the far line of communication — from the 
settlements on the Missouri to Santa Fe, California, and 
Oregon, robberies and murders were committed by 
savages, on travelling parties. The government there- 
fore increased the number of troops to be stationed in 
these regions. One extra battalion has been sent to 

(Col. Gilpin is 

in command Ncw Mexico. One is employed on the Santa Fe — and 

on the Santa ' •' 

^Qo\.f'o^2\ one on the Oregon road. Colonel, now General Price, 
g'>n.) leaving in command Col. Walker, reached Missouri, 
Return^f ^^P^* 25th; having lost in battle and otherwise, more 
than four hundred of his men. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Scott's Invasion — Vera Cruz— Cerro Gordo. 

Since Mexico refused to treat for peace, the Ameri- ISie, 
can Executive determined to strike at her capital through 
Vera Cruz. Gen. Scott, the first officer in the American 
army, was properly selected to conduct this perilous 
enterprise. He was notified by Secretary Marcy of liis 
appointment, on the 18th of November: and he was Nov. i8. 

^ ' (See Marcy'a 

dii'ected to draw his force chiefly from Taylor ; that 'l""^^*? 
general having received notice, that troops would, for 
this invasion, be withdrawn from his army by the war 
department. On the 25th of November, Gen. Scott 
gave, with reluctance, the order already noticed, by 
which the Generals Taylor and Wool were deprived of 
the greater portion of their armies. With a smaller 
force than that with which Gen. Scott was furnished, 
it would have been madness to undertake such an in- 
vasion ; f nor would the nature of the service brook the ^^ ^^^ ^^^^ 

T , ^ . . IT.,.. ^ ri-11 field's " Mex- 

delay oi raismg and disciphnnig new troops. i ne jcau War.") 
deadly summer climate of Vera Cruz required immediate 
action. 

Santa Anna was lying with 22,000 men at San 



78 SIEGE OF VERA CRUZ. 

^Q^"^' Luis Potosi. It would have seemed probable that he 
would have turned towards Vera Cruz, and uniting with 
forces in that vicinity, oppose, as he might have done, 
with an army of 30,000, the landing of Gen. Scott ; — 
Feb. 22&23. ^'^ther than to march against Gen. Taylor. But (as 
Bueiia Vista. Scott learned after landing) Santa Anna chose the latter, 
and was defeated at Buena Vista. 

To make the preparations necessary for a foreign 
siege. Gen. Jesup, the quartermaster- general, proceeded 
to New Orleans, to arrange with Gen. Scott the details 
of this important service ; the magnitude of whose 
operations, appears from the fact that 163 vessels were 
employed as transports. The general rendezvous of the 
several corps, which were to compose the invading army, 
was the island of Lobos, 125 miles from Vera Cruz. 
Necessary delays, however, occurred ; and it was not 
until the 7th of March, that Gen. Scott embarked with 
his troops on board the transporting squadron, which was 
commanded by Com. Conner. Reaching Vera Cruz on 
9th, lands at the 9th, he, with admirable order, debarked his whole 

Sacrificios. 

army on the west side of the island of Sacrificios. Hav- 
ing vainly summoned the garrison to surrender. Gen. 
Scott, with the aid of his able engineers, of whom Col. 
Totten was chief, planted his batteries ; and commenced, 
on the night of the 18th, a tremendous bombardment of 
the city. The fleet lent its aid, although exposed to the 
fire of the castle. On the morning of the 26th, Gen. 
Landera, then in command of Vera Cruz, made over- 
tures for capitulation. Generals Worth, Pillow, and Col. 



March 7. 
ScDtt em- 
barks his ar- 
my. 



IPth, begins 
the cannon- 
ade. 



Scott's march. 79 

Totten, arranged with him the articles; — and on the isit. 

night of the 27th, Vera Cruz, with the strong caslle of ^^'^ecky' 
San Juan d'Ulloa, — the principal commercial port, and 
the strongest fortress in Mexico, were surrendered, with 
5,000 prisoners, (dismissed on parole,) and 500 pieces of 
artillery. Two meritorious American officers, Captains 
Alburtis and Vinton, with ten privates, were killed. 
Capt. Swift, one of the brightest ornaments of the service, 
who had organized a company of sappers and miners, — 
too eager in duty for his impaired health, fainted at the 
head of his corps, from over-exertion ; and died in the 
hospital. The discipline of Gen. Scott's army was strict, 
and no invasion of private rights was permitted. 

Com. Perry, who succeeded Conner in command of 
the Gulf squadron, extended his operations after the fall ^^ 

^ ' '■ (Capt. Hun- 

of Vera Cruz. Alvarado on the south, was captured, ^/'but^iilt 
and Tuspan on the north. The American government su,)eriur. toidc 

Alvarado.) 

about this time adopted the policy of drawing a revenue 
from the conquered ; — lest by too much lenity, in paying 
for all needed supplies, the war should become a pccu- 
ijiary advantage to certain classes of the Mexicans, and 
thus peace be deferred. Having now the best harbors 
of Mexico in possession, American revenue officers were 
appointed, and impost duties collected. 

On the 8th of April, Gen. Scott, leaving a garrison 
in Vera Cruz, sent forward the advance of his army un- April 8. 

•^ Atmy leaves 

dor Gen. Twiggs, on the road to Jalapa. At the base 
of the grand eastern chain of the Cordilleras, the other 
divisions of the army came up, and the commander 



Vera Cruz. 



80 CERRO GORDO. 

^^^'^* established a camp at Plan del Rio. Then lay before 
him an arduous and difficult ascent through a mountain- 
gorge. Across this way, and on the heights which com- 
manded it, bristled the artillery of the invaded foe, 
12,000 strong, commanded by Santa Anna. He had 
made great efforts to keep up his army ; and here de- 
clared that he would die fighting rather than "the 
American hosts should proudly tread the imperial capita! 
of Azteca." Scott found by reconnoissanee, that the 
Mexican position was so strongly fortified, and so com- 
manded by the batteries of the lofty height of Cerro 
Gordo, that approach in front was impracticable. But, 
aided by the skill of the engineers, Lee and Beauregard, 
he turned to the left, causing to be made a new road, by 
which, ascending along difficult slopes and over deep 
chasms, his army might reach the rear of the enemy^s 
camp. After three days of secret labor, the road was 
made. On the 17th of April, the commander published 
in a general order the detailed plan of a battle for the 
next day, — showing how the victory was to be obtained, 

. ., ,^ — how the flvinw were to be pursued, — and how the 

April 18. ^ n r ' 

Cmro^Gor- greatest advantage was to be reaped. All was done as 
Mex. force hc Commanded. 

12,000. 

Am. 8,500. About noon the steep ascent was gained. The 

k.&w"Sout heights of Cerro Gordo were stormed by Twiggs' bri- 

1 100 

pris! 3,000. gade, — and the enemy's camp, by a party led by Col. 

430. Harney, Gen. Shields, — (severely wounded,) and by 

Col. Riley. At two o'clock, P. M., the enemy were put 

to flight, — more than a thousand had fallen, either killed 



VICTORY OF CERRO GORDO. 81 

or wounded. Santa Anna and a part of his army had i^'il* 
fled, and the eager pursuit had commenced. Scott in 
his orders, given before the battle, had directed that the 
pursuers should each take two days' subsistence, and 
that wagons with stores should immediately follow, so 
that they need not return. On the 19th, the pursuing 
squadrons entered and took possession of Jalapa. On 
the 20th, they found the strong post of La Hoya aban- 
doned. On the 22d, havins: now attained the summit of April 22. 

° Wortli takes 

the eastern Cordilleras, General Worth displayed the ^^JJ';'[. ^^Tj! 

American banner from the unresisting castle of Perote, 

the strongest fortress in Mexico, next to San Juan d'Ulloa. 

Thus by vigorously following up this remarkable victory, 

the enemy were unable to recover in time to make a 

stand in this, their strongest inland post ; and thus, other 

battles were saved. 

Three thousand prisoners were taken at Cerro Gordo, 
amonij whom were four "-enerals. Gen. Scott dismissed 
them all upon parole, having neither food to sustain, nor 
men to guard them. Santa Anna's equipage and papers 
were secured. Both here and at Perote were captured 

(54 pieces of 

many large pieces of bronze artillery. From Perote n^^naJ'^take^ 
onwards, through that great table valley between the ^' P®'°te.) 
grand chains of the Cordilleras, called the Terras Frias, 
or the "cold country," the American army had now no 
cause to apprehend serious resistance. On the morning 
of the 25th of May, the advance under Worth entered 
Puebla, the second city of Mexico, containing 80,000 
inhabitants. Eagerly did the Mexican men and women 



82 GEN. WORTH ENTERS PUEBLA. 

184T. look out from their balconies, and from the roofs of their 
houses, to see these mighty conquerors. War-worn, and 
habited in the sober gray of the American army, the 
Mexicans, accustomed to a gaudy uniform, looked upon 
them with disappointment ; and could find no reason but 
one for their success. " Their leaders," said they, " are 
gray- headed men." 



CHAPTER VIII. 

State of the Army — Its March — Contreras — Churubusco. 
The American army having nov/ overrun the northern 1 81T. 



portion of the country, and made a successful inroad 
which threatened the capital, the Executive sent 
Nicholas P. Trist, as an agent to make the experiment, 
whether Mexico would now treat for peace. But the 
olive-branch was again rejected. 

The interruption of the army's activity caused by 
these unavailing efforts for peace, was opportune. Its 
numbers were lessened by sickness ; for the climate 
though pleasant proved so unhealthly, that hundreds 
were in hospitals, and many died. The time for which 
large numbers of the volunteers were enlisted, expired ; 
and man)^ had deserted. Congress had, however, passed 
a law, February 11th, 1847, authorizing ten new 
regiments; and these being raised, reinforcements were ,-,(,9^;^^^^ 
sent by the way of Vera Cruz; and although not in ^^'e,.'e ^t one^ 

time in liospi- 

sufficient numbers to admit of leavinsr such garrisons tai at Puebia, 

^ ^ and 1700 de- 

behind as would keep open his line of supplies. Gen. Scott '^f^^e t"-'-"'° 
determined to move forward. 



84 VALLEY OF MEXICO. 

^Q^^* On the 7th of August he marched from Puebla with 

10,728 men, leaving more than 3,000 in hospitals, — and 
as a garrison under Col. Childs. Keeping the several 
columns into which he had divided the army, within 
supporting distance, and himself accompanying the van, 
Gen. Scott moved forth with his little army; — like a 
second Cortez, to encounter the unknown numbers, which 
would be brought against him, at the coming death- 
struggle of an infuriated nation. The march of the 
Americans was now through a beautiful and cultivated 
region, whose abundant waters flowed pure and cool. 
Soon they began to ascend the gradual slope of the great 
Cordilleras of Anahuac, central between the east and 
western oceans. On the third day, their toilsome march 
wound up through steep acclivities. At length they 
reached the summit ; and three miles beyond Rio Frio, 
burst upon their gaze, all the glories of the grand valley 
of Mexico. Spreading far round and beneath, were its 
mingled lakes, plains, cities, and cloud-capped mountains. 
The giant peak of Popocatapetl was far to their left ; 
before them lay lake Tezcuco ; and beyond it, the domes 
and towers of the city of the Montezumas, which many a 
brave American, that day, rejoiced to behold — but never 
reached. 

The mountain-passes were here unguarded ; and the 
August 11. army marched on, until, on the 11th, the advance com- 
Ayotia. manded by Gen. Twiggs, rested at Ayotla, north of lake 
Chalco, and fifteen miles from the capital. The remain- 
ing corps were soon concentrated at small distances ; 



ENERGY AND COURAGE. 85 

some on the lake's' eastern border. The first step was ISIT. 
to learn and consider well the position of the city, and 
every thing respecting its defences. Its ground plot had 
formerly been an island. What was once the lake on 
which it stood, was now an oozy marsh. Long straight 
causeways, easily raked by artillery, led through this 
marsh to the several gates, from the great roads by which 
the city was approached ; and much the longest was 
that connected with the road from Vera Cruz. But 
before reaching the causeways was an exterior system of 
strong defences. 

A bold reconnoissance was made. By the Vera 
Cruz road, on which the army were, the city could not 
be approached, without first encountering the strongest 
of the exterior fortifications, that of El Penon. " No 
doubt," says Gen. Scott, " it might have been carried, 
but at a great and disproportionate loss, and I was 
anxious to spare the lives of this gallant army for a 
general battle, which I knew we had to win before 
capturing the city, or obtaining the great object of the 
campaign — a just and honorable peace." 

The commander then moved his troops 27 miles ; 
they making a new road, directed by the engineers, over 
such sharp volcanic rocks and deep chasms, as the foe 
had not dreamed could be passed ,* when, — having 
turned the lakes Chalco and Jochamilcho, they en- Army 

marches from 

camped at St. Augustine, on the Acapulco road, eight ^^r^j^^^^^f*- 
miles south of Mexico. From the camp, looking towards 
the city, the first defences on this road were the fortress 



83 ENERGY AND COtJnAGE. 

_2_5^^_ of Antoiiia ; and — a mile and a half farther north — the 
strongly fortified hill of Churubusco. These could be 
approached in front only by a dangerous causeway. 

Thf Armv' ^^ making a detour to the west, where lay yet other 
to^Coiurems. dangers, they might be reached from the left. Two 
movements, ordered by the commander, were simulta- 
neously made. Worth with Harney's cavalry went to 
menace Antonia in front ; while to the left, Gen. Pil- 
low's division, consisting of the brigades of Pierce and 
Cadwallader, conducted by the engineers, Lee, Beaure- 
gard, and others, made a road through craggy rocks of 
ancient lava, — whose crevices shot up the thorn-armed 
maguey, and whose deep chasms were filled with water. 
To cover and support the working party, was sent Gen. 
Twiggs' division, made up of the brigades of Riley und 

/ Persifer Smith. 

In the afternocn of the second day, after accomplish- 
ing nearly three miles of this difficult road, the troops 
found themselves within cannon-range of the enemy's 

Battle begins, fortified camp at Contreras, commanded by Gen. Valen- 
cia, with 6,000 men, surmounted by 22 heavy guns, and 
communicating by a good road with Mexico, and also 
with the main camp of Santa Anna, which was lying 
two miles nearer. Upon this road they saw the 
Mexicans hurrying on to the scene of action. Fighting 
now begins, in which the divisions of generals Twiggs 
and Pillow, especially Riley's brigade, are engaged. 
They advance, though suffering from the enemy's fire ; 
— aided by the small batteries of Magruder and Callen- 



CONTRERAS. 87 

der, which are with difficulty brought into action. About ■^®^2: 
sunset, the commander, now on the field with fresh troops, 
gives to Col. Morgan of the regular infantry, an order, 
which, aided by Gen. Shields of the volunteers, he 
executes; taking the village of Contreras, or Ansalda,f (fThis vii- 

, lage is sonie- 

which lay on the road from the fortified camp, to that of .^""^' oMed 

J r^ in accounts ot 

Santa Anna. The enemy's line of reinforcements was contreras,' 

and some- 
no W cut. times Ansal- 

da. See 

Night, — cold, dark, and rainy — closed in. Comfort- porT^AiJ^ust 
less was the condition of the troops, remaining without 
food or sleep, upon the ground. The officers at Ansalda, 
in their perilous position, — separated as they were from 
their commander by the almost impassable"|" lava-field, officers sent 

by Pcott after 

whose craojs, on account of the rain-flood, were inter- sundown to 

" ' carry orders, 

spersed by torrents, — now found resources in their own "cLTed^n*^ 

, reaching An- 

genms, courage, and union. Gen. Persifer Smith saida.) 
proposed to set out at midnight, surprise and storm the 
camp at Contreras. f rom that moment, dark forebodings 
passed from the army, and each officer and man, as by 
spontaneous movement, fell into his proper place. Gen. 
Shields extending his 600 men into a long line, and 
keeping up fires, was interposed between the storming 
party and the camp of Santa Anna, with his 12,000 
reserve. One messenger alone — Lee, the engineer, — 
found liis dark and watery way over the lava-rocks, and 
carried to the gratified commander the tidings of the 
gallant attitude of his troops, — and also, a request of 
Gen. Smith, for co-operation. Gen. Scott complied, by 
sending with the messengf^r the force under Twiggs, to 



Augnst. 
Morning of 
the 2Uth. 



S8 CONTRERAS. 



1841. Contreras at five in the morning, to aid the stormin< 



^^"gj'^,^!^^;'/- party approaching the enemy's rear, by making a 
gaged, Soo diversion in their front. A little past midnight. Gen. 

more in sight, 

Am. ibrceen- Smith scts forward, conducted by eno;ineer Smith, Col. 

gaged, 4,500. ' Jo ' 

MeZ~k.ss, Riley leading the van. The rain continues to fall in 
oners HKJ, 88 torrents, and their progress is slow. So profound is the 

oflBcers,4gen- 

erais darkuess, that the men must touch each other as they 

Am. k. & w. ' •' 

Capt. Han- ^ovo, Icst they divide, and some be lost. At sunrise, 
brave— was they storm the intrenchments, and precipitate themselves 

here killed. 

upon the surprised Mexicans. Dismay and carnage 
prevail for seventeen minutes ; when the camp is 
carried. Eighty-eight officers and 3,000 men are made 
prisoners. Thirty-three pieces of artillery are captured ; 
among which are found two of those so honorably lost 
by O'Brien at Buena Vista ; — and they are taken by 
Capt. Drum with a part of the regiment to which they 
had in that battle belonged. They are received with 
shouts of joy by the victors of Contreras ; in which the 
commander, now present, and proud of his " gallant 
army," heartily participates. 

Gen. Scott next directed a grand movement upon 
Churubusco, to which the victory already achieved, 
opened the way. Moving northeasterly by the road 
through St. Angel, he keeps the centre of the extended 
field, while Gen. Worth on his extreme right, is driving 
the now terrified garrison from Antonia. Gen. Shields, 
who at Contreras, had kept for hours the whole army of 
Santa Anna in check, was in command of the extreme 
left ; still charged with the dangerous duty of keeping 



CHIJRUBUSCO. 89 

oiF the grand Mexican army from the immediate object iSlt. 

of attack. In the centre, Gen. Twiggs presses forward ^u.^ust 20. 

to Churubusco, and entering it from the west, attacks co. 

one of its two strong defences, the fortified church of 

San Pablo. In the mean time. Worthy joined by Pillow 

and Cadwallader, comes in from Antonia, and furiously 

carrying the stronger fortress, called Pont du THe or 

Bridge's Plead, he turns its guns upon the citadel-church, 

which now surrenders. Shields, Pierce, and others, are 

meantime fighting a bloody battle with Santa Anna, with 

fearful odds against them. Scott sent successive (t Kearny 

regiments to their aid. Churubusco was now taken, the arm, ami oth- 
er officers 

brave old Gen. Rincon, its commander, having surren- their hves.) 
dered. Santa Anna abandoned the field. Worth and 
Shields pursued. Col. Harney wqth his dragoons dashed 
by them, and one of his officers, Capt. Kearney, not 
hearing the call to return, followed the flying Mexicans 
to the very gate of the capital. f 



CHAPTER IX. 

Armistice — Moliuos del Rey — Cliapultepec — Mexico. 

1847. The commander, following up his victory, might 

now have entered Mexico. But he was not sent to con- 
quer the country, but to " conquer a peace," and he 
believed that the reduction of the capital would delay, 
rather than accelerate this result. He did not wish to 
c^eed'in"sof drivc the government away from the city dishonored. 

Scott. 

" The army," says Scott in his dispatches, " are willing 
to leave to this republic something on which to rest her 
pride, — and they cheerfully sacrifice to patriotism the 
eclat that would have followed an entrance, sword in 
hand, into a great capital." 
August 21. Tacubaya now became the head-quarters of the 

American army. The general-in-chief occupied the 
archbishop's palace, with its beautiful gardens. Here 

24th. , . 1 . 1 T»r . 

Armistice he negotiated with Mexican commissioners an armistice, 

concluded. 

as a step preparatory to a final peace. On Mr. Trist, 
the agent of the American executive, it devolved, to 
settle with the Mexican authorities the terms. They 
wanted, among other conditions, that regions should be 
left as desolate wastes between the two republics ; and, 



MOLINOS DEL REY. 91 

humbled as they were, they could not yet brook the re- 184T. 
linquishment of the territory demanded. Negotiations 
were broken off, and the spirit of the Mexican govern- 
ment rose once more to meet a final struggle. They 
violated the armistice by strengthening their defences. 
Taking down the bells of their churches, they made a 

Violated by 

foundry at the "King's Mills," where they converted the Mexicans, 
them into cannon. They called on the provinces to come 
to their aid in mass ; and by fire, or poison, — by any wea- 
pon, in any manner, to injure and destroy the invader. 

From Tacubaya, Mexico was in full view — north- 
east, and distant three miles. North — bearing a little 
east — distant a mile — rose, in beautiful prospect, the 
fortified hill of Chapultepec ; its porphyritic rocks ab- 
ruptly descending on its southern and eastern sides, — 
while to the west, the hill fell gradually, with a gentle, 
wooded slope, till it met the fortified building of stone, 
called El Molinos del Rev, or the King's Mills. A 

Scott's posi- 

quarter of a mile west of the fortified mills stood another tionm respect 

^ to Mexico 

stone fortress called Casa Mata. These were the ob- fences. 

stacles which now barred the way of the Americans to 

the capital ; and they constituted the supporting points 

of the Mexican army ranged behind them, headed by 

Santa Anna, and amounting to fourteen thousand. 14,000. 

Am. 3,200. 
The generals, Scott and Worth, went forth in person — 

° '■ Max. loss se 

to reconnoitre, and they sent out their skilful engineers, ^'"k'nown."" 
Scott then gave the order for an assault on Molinos del 52offieere. 

Am. loss, 

Rey, committinor its execution to Worth. A terrible KM*'.^*'^^^' 



Sept. a. 

Molinos 
DEL Rey. 



battle was fought, — the fortresses of Molinos del Rey 



including 
officers. 



92 CHAPULTEPEC. 

t8'*'y« and Casa Mata were taken, and an important victory 
was won. But the very tone was melancholy, in which 
the commanding-officer praised the victors, " the gallant 
dead, the wounded, and the few unscathed. ^^ The com- 
manders in their reconnoissance before the battle had 
been somewhat deceived as to the enemy's strength ; 
they masking their batteries, and concealing their men, 
which were perhaps fivefold the numbers of their assail- 
ants. In the heat of the action, Major Wright, assisted 
by Mason of the engineers, fell upon the enemy's centre, 
and took his main field-battery ; when so furiously did 
he charge to regain it, that of fourteen American officers, 
eleven fell. Among the number were Wright and Ma- 
son. One brigade lost its three senior officers, — Col. 
M'Intosh and Major Waite wounded, and Col. Martin 
Scott killed. Casa Mata was blown up, and El Molinos 
dismantled. 

It was at the beautiful hill of Chapultepec, where 
once arose the veritable " Halls of the Montezumas." 
Here was now the military school of Mexico, and the 
last exterior defence of the successors of Cortez, to that 
capital which he had so iniquitously taken, shedding seas 
of blood, because " the Spaniards had a disease of the 
cott's Con- heart, which nothing could assuage but gold."+ The 

quest of Mex- 

^^"^ ) God of battles, who had so signally made the American 
armies the means of chastising the Spanish Mexicans, 
for national cruelties early begun and long continued, 
again led them to victory. 

On the night of the 11th of September, Gen. Scott 



BATTLES OF MEXICO. 93 

caused to be erected, from the cannon taken in former 1841. 
victories, four heavy batteries, bearing on Chapultepec. /batteries. 
Before night, on the 12th, the outworks of that fortress, 
skilfully assailed by a cannonade directed by the Ameri- 
can engineers, began to give way. On the 13th was cSpulte- 
the battle. The officers and men, by whom such an 
unbroken series of victories had been achieved, were all 
promptly in the places assigned them, by eight o'clock 
in the morning. The fortification which they were to 
storm was a nation's last hope. The roar of the American 
cannon ceases for a moment. It is the preconcerted signal 
for the assault. In an instant the assailants are in rapid 
motion. Gen. Quitman hastens from the south, Gen. The fortreess 

stormed. 

Persifer Smith from the southeast, and Gen. Pillow, with 
Col. Clark, from the wooded slope on the west. The 
batteries throw shells into the fort over the heads of their 
friends, as they begin the furious attack. The garrison, 
though they fought with desperation, were overpowered. 
Some yield, and others attempt to retire. At the mo- 
ment of their retreat, the supporting force under Santa 
Anna, in the rear of Chapultepec, is attacked and de- g ^^ 13 
feated by Gen. Worth, who for this purpose had passed Mexico. 

Max. i\)Tce 

the batteries. Directed by the commander, he pursues ^^Jj^" 
the enemy as he flies to the city, pressing forward to "!_1 

Mex. loss, the 

enter, by a circuitous road, the San Cosme sate on the wh^ie army. 

° except about 

northwest. Gen Quitman, in the meantime, follows the ^^Heserted ' 

flving foe to the city, by a route direct from Chapulte- FepT.' 12-14, 

k. i3()— 10 
pec ; he being instructed to make a feint of storming the ,*'^^?/^: 

southwestern or Belen gate, near to the formidable ''^'^''^- 



04 THE CAPITAL TAKEN. 

^^^^* citadel within, — in order to make a diversion from the 
real point of attack at San Cosme. 

Gen. Scott meantim.e advanced with Worth into the 
suburb of San Cosme, where opposing batteries were 
taken ; but he returned at night to Chapultepec, to look 
with a father's care to the condition of all, — the living, 
the wounded, and the dead. Worth, as instructed, 
remained in the suburb until morning. But Gen. 
Quitman, accompanied by Shields and Smith, rested that 
night within the city ; having changed the feint which 
the commander ordered, into a real attack, by which 
they entered (though with considerable loss) the Belen 
gate. They had not yet passed the formidable citadel. 

At four o'clock on the morning of the 14th, Gen. 

Scott havincr returned to San Cosme, the Mexican 

Me\'ico ta- authorities sent him a deputation, desiring of him 

terms of capitulation ; their army having fled a little 

(The Am. after midnight. Gen. Scott replied, that the American 

colors were 

I'O'fedatT armv would come under no terms, but such as were self- 

A.M.) •' 

imposed, and demanded by honor, — by the spirit of the 
a<?e, and the diojnitv of the American character. Worth 
and Quitman, as directed, moved cautiously forward, — 
Worth to the Alameda and Quitman to the Grand Plaza, 
where the victorious array reared above the National 
Palace of Mexico, the stars and stripes of the Republic 
of America. 

Three hours before noon. Gen. Scott made his 
entrance, with escort of cavalry and flourish of 
trumpets, into the conquered city of the Aztecs ; and 



GRN. SCOTT'S ORDERS. 95 

as he approached the grand plaza — his towering figure IS'IT. 
conspicuous as his fame, — loudly and warmly was he 
cheered, by shouts, which arose from the hearts of his 
companions in arms. 

The troops for twenly-four hours now suffered from 
the anarchy of Mexico, more than her prowess had been 
able to inflict. Two thousand convicts, let loose from 
the prisons, attacked them from the house-tops ; at the 
same time, entering houses and committing robberies. 
The Mexicans assisting, these felons were quelled by the 
morning of the 1.5th. 

Gen. Scott gave to his army, on the day of their 
entrance into Mexico, memorable orders concerning their 
discipline and behavior. After directing that companies 
and regiments be kept together, he says, " let there be no 
disorders, no straggling, no drunkenness. Marauders 
shall be punished by courts martial. All the rules so 
honorably observed by this glorious army in Puebla, must 
be observed here. The honor of the army, the honor of 
our country, call for the best behavior from all. The 
valiant must, to win the approbation of God and their 
country, be sober, orderly and merciful. — His noble bre- 
thren in arms, will not be deaf to this hasty appeal from 
their commander and friend." On the 16tli, he called on 
the army to return public and private thanks to God for 
victory. On the 19th, for the better preservation of order, 
and suppression of crime, he proclaimed martial law. 
Thus protected by the American army, the citizens of 
Mexico were more secure from violence, and from fear of 



96 MURDERS IN MEXICO. 

184T. robbery and murder, than they had ever been under 
their own flag.* 

* M'Culloch quotes from the French traveller, Chevalier, the 
fact, that in the city of Mexico 900 bodies were annually carried to 
the House for the Dead ; the presumption being that they came to 
• their death by violence. 



CHAPTER X. 

Puebla — Huamantla — Atlixco — Treaty of Peace — Conclusion. 
The crisis of the war was past, Mexico throughout I84t. 



her broad domains, was virtually conquered ; and what 
followed was but as the dashing of the waves, after the 
storm is over. 

We have seen, that when Scott left Puebla, he cut 
his own line of supplies ; not being in force sufficient to 
garrison any place between that city and Mexico. At 
the final entrance of his troops into that capital, he had 
only 6,000 men.f If the army had failed to conquer, ^ see Scott's 

. dispatches. 

they had, m sober earnest, good reason, irom past 
practices, to consider it probable that their infuriated 
enemy would kill them all. J Bitterly did the Mexicans (+see aUo 

Santa An- 

reap the fruit of their former cruelties, by the almost n^'s arran^-e- 

ments for cut- 
superhuman energies put forth in fight by the Americans, Ame"man.''at 

1 1 . 1 • 1 • I 1 1 1 1 • I Buena Vista ) 

and the unvarymg success which it pleased the Almighty 
to give to their arms. The Mexican capital was not 
conquered by the American republic, as Carthage and 
other cities were by the Roman, — to be destroyed, or to 
become the sport of petty tyrants and a lawless soldiery, 
who in time would turn and become the destroyers of 

5 



98 COL. CHILDS' DEFENCE AT PUEBLA. 

_l_®*^»_ their own country. Nothing was now asked of Mexico, 
conquered as she was, but to negotiate a treaty of peace, 
in which America stood ready to be generous. To 
bring forward a Mexican government, with which peace 
could be made, became, at this period, the difficult task 
of the well-meaning of both belligerent parties. 

Santa Anna after leaving Mexico on the night of the 
13th of September, was not heard of for some days. In the 
meantime. Colonel Childs, commander at Puebla, whose 
effective force amounted to only 247 men, and having 
1,800 sick in the hospitals, had been closely besieged by 
the enemy, since the same date, the day of the battle of 

Sept. 22. 

BantaAnna Chapultepec. On the 22d, the besiegers were encour- 

at Puebla. f f 'to 

aged by the appearance of Santa Anna, with some 
thousands of the remnant of his army. Col. Childs and 
his gallant band, though worn with watching, and wasted 
by fatigue, still refused the summons to surrender, and 
bravely continued their defence. But Santa Anna had 
heard of the approach of 3,000 recruits under General 
ve a^rVz^*^ LauCjf ou their march from Vera Cruz, to reinforce 
luHer Miior Gcn. Scott ; and he left Puebla on the 30th, to go to 

J. ally left 

earlier.) Pinal, whero they were daily expected. Gen. Lane, on 

his part heard of the Mexican army, and turning from 

H.iHinantia. his direct course, he encountered it at Huanianila, with 

y,e\. loss 

Am 'k"i3 w ^^'^^^ Anna at its head ; fought and defeated it, — losing 

^^' eleven men, among whom was the well-known Capt. 

Walker of the Texan rangers. Gen. Lane arrived, 

October 12th, at Puebla, and relieved Col. Childs from a 

distressing siege of forty days. Lane again turned from 



TREATY OF PEACE. 99 

his course to seek the enemy; and at Atlixco, ten leagues _1^4T. 
from Perote, he defeated a strong guerilla force under 5tiix'co. 
the well-known chief, Gen. Rea. By these guerilla k.afo.'w.Joo. 

^ Am. k. 1, 

parties, of which Atlixco had been the head-quarters, w.i 

many Americans, found as stragglers, or in small 

parties, had been killed. Major Lally, in marching his 

command of 1,000 men from Vera Cruz to Jalapa, had 

lost 100 men, having been waylaid by them, with Rea 

at their head, four times. f In every instance, however, aJ ASov^e- 

he defeated them with loss. 12111/^1' Pru- 

ente del Rey. 

Santa Anna, now abandoned by his troops, resigned isth.atCeiro 

' -^ r ' Q Gordo. 

his offices on the 18th of October, and soon became a ^Ali'ima^j** 
fugitive. The supreme power passed into the hands of 
Senor Peila y Pefia, by virtue of his office as president 
of the Supreme Court. He forthwith sent his circulars, 
calling on the several states, in pathetic language, to 
send deputies to Queretaro, to treat for peace. A con- 
arress there assembled on the 12th of November, which i.,^°^- ^^ 
appointed four commissioners, one of whom was Gen. 
Rincon, to arrange with Mr. Trist the plan of a treaty. 
In the meantime, Mr. Trist had lost the confidence of 
the American Executive, and his powers had been re- 
voked. Nevertheless, with Gen. Scott's approbation, he 
presumed in ihis emercrency, to act. On the 2d of ^,^^^'^- ^ 

^ '^ J^ The Treaty of 

February, the treaty was signed by Mr. Trist and the ^"'Jned' " 
Mexican commissioners, at the city of Guadalupe Hidal- Feb. 22. 

Laid before 

go, and twenty days afterwards it was submitted by the ^ti^g^uJ^Jle"^ 
President of the United States to the Senate. That body ^^'''^' 
adopted it with alterations. President Polk then ap- 



X. congress 
appoint t'uur 
commisson- 
ers. 



100 PEACE DECLARED. 

1848. pointed two gentlemen, Mr. Sevier of the Senate, and 
Mr. Clifford, attorney-general, to proceed with the modi- 
fied treaty to Queretaro. There, on laying it before the 
Mexican congress, the president eloquently urged its 
acceptance, and it was ratified by a large majority. 

On the 21st of February, the beloved and venerated pa- 
triot, John Quincy Adams, who, since his presidency had 
served his country in the national legislature, fell from his 
seat during the debates of the House of Representatives, 
struck by a fatal paralysis. Congress in both its branches 
suspended public action ; and its members were waiting 
as around the couch of a dying father. He expired, in 
D^n^t^E- C'^^'^stian hope and resignation, on the 22d ; saying, 
S' Adani " This is the last of earth." 

In March, Gen. Sterling Price moved with a force 

from New Mexico to Chihuahua ; and from that city, 

March 16. sixty milcs on the road to Durango; where he conquered, 

F*.ce nil" at Santa Cruz de Rozales, a Mexican army, making 

known. 

Mex. ioss^,_^ prisoners the commanding general. Angel Frias, and 

about so."^^ ' forty-two other officers. 

Peace was declared to the American army in Mexico, 
Pels n?o- °^ ^^^ 2Qi\\ of May, by Gen. Butler, who was, by order 
Ge™ButiJr of the government, left in command of the army by Gen. 

in Mexico. 

Scott, he being about to return to the Un^ed States. 

The treaty stipulated that all Mexico should be 
evacuated by the American armies within three months. 
Prisoners on each side were to be released ; and Mexi- 
can captives, made by Indians within the limits of the 
United States, were to be restored. These limits, as 



ACCESSION OF TERRITORY. 101 

they affect Mexico, are to begin at the mouth of the Rio 1848. 
Grande, — thence to proceed along the deepest channel 
of that river to the southern boundary of New Mexico. 
From thence to the Pacific, they are to follow the river 
Gila, and the southern boundary of Upper California. 
The United States may, however, use the Colorado, for 
purposes of navigation, below the entrance of its affluent, 
the Gila. If it should be found practicable, and judged gubstance of 
expedient, to construct a canal, road or railway, along Guadafupe° 
the Gila, then both nations are to unite in its construction 
and use. The navigation of that river is to be free to both 
nations ; and interrupted by neither. Mexican citizens 
within the limits of the relinquished territories of New 
Mexico and Upper California, are allowed a year to 
make their election — whether they will continue Mexi- 
can citizens, and remove their property, (in which case 
they are to receive every facility,) or whether they will 
remain and become citizens of the United States. This 
nation agrees to restrain the incursions of all the Indian 
tribes within its limits, against the Mexicans ; and to 
return all Mexican captives hereafter made by these 
savages. In consideration of territory gained, the Amer- 
ican government is to pay to Mexico fifteen millions of 
dollars ; and also to assume her debts to American citi- 
zens, to the amount of three millions and a half more. 

Three millions were paid to Mexico in hand ; con- 
gress having the preceding winter placed that sum with 
the president, in anticipation of such an event ; the re- 
maining twelve millions to be paid in instalments. 



102 CONSEQUENCES OF WAR. 

1848. 'Pile territory of Wisconsin was admitted into the 

American Union as a state, on the 29th of JVIay 1848. 

The Mexican treaty was brought home by Mr. 

Sevier ; Mr. Clifford remaining in Mexico as American 

envoy. President Polk made his proclamation of peace 

Peic^^o- between the two republics, on the 4th of July, 1848, the 

c aime . ^^^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^^, scventy-third national year. 

The American armies have evacuted Mexico. Dis- 
tinguished generals, and other officers, have been re- 
ceived by their country with the honors due to those who 
have so well sustained the national character, — not only 
for courage, activity, endurance, discipline, and military 
science, — but for the nobler virtues of humanity. The 
remains of other officers, who died in the service of their 
country, have been brought home to be honored, in 
death ; and to find their last repose among their friends. 
And the soldiers too, — they who fought so bravely 
for their native land, — they have returned. Regiments 
that went forth full and fresh, have returned, — smitten 
and scathed. Many is the desolate hearth, to which the 
son, the husband, the father, shall return no more. No 
kindred eye shall weep at his grave. He is buried with 
the undistinguishable dead, who fell on the foreign battle- 
field, or died in the hospital. Twenty-five thousand 
American lives, it is calculated, have been sacrificed in 
this war; and about seventy-five millions of money 
expended. And we know that the sacrifice of Mexican 
life and property has been still greater. The number 
of Mexican soldiers, who fell in battle, greatly exceeded 



CONSEQUENCES OF WAR. 103 

that of the American ; — and who can tell how many of 1848. 
their women and children were killed in the bombard- 
ment of their cities. 

Let trie value of money be estimated by the good it 
may be made to do, and we shall then see the magnitude 
of the evils which, in a pecuniary way, war inflicts. Ire- 
land was visited with famine in the winter of 1846-7, 
from the failure of crops, especially that of the potato. 
The benevolent among us were moved with compassion, 
and contributed n;oney and food to her relief. The 
government in one instance sent a public ship to carry (^ jy^areh 28. 
provisions thus contributed. f The very heart of affec- Boston. n,'e 

sloop-of wi'.r 

tionate Ireland overflowed with gratitude : and England lamest, wn. 

^ ' o Capt. Fo bns. 

and Scotland, themselves sufferers in a less degree from ^''au"'rk /^'^ 
the same cause, felt and praised our liberality. Thus, 
we blessed others, and were ourselves blessed in return ; 
— and the money which it cost us was about half a 
million of dollars; whereas, we paid seventy-five mil- 
lions, to kill and distress the Mexicans. 

The time to act for the prevention of war, as of in- 
cendiarism, is when none is raging ; and those to move 
first in the cause of peace, should be nations and men, „. , 

^ ' ' Time, ani 

of undoubted courage and ability in war. The Mexican ^io/un^ver"iu' 

peace. 

contest has placed our Republic, for the present time, 
eminently in that position. No country has at any 
period, shown braver soldiers, or better officers. Our 
government, from respect to the moral feeling of the 
nation, which wishes no territory gained by force, pays 



104 COUNCIL OF PEACE. 

^^"^Q* to conquered Mexico the full price of the lands acquired 
from her ; yet is it none the less true, that these terri- 
tories were won by the valor of our armies, and without 
conquest would not have been ours. They extend from 
ocean to ocean, the full breadth of the grand platform on 
which stands the American nation ; and the 250,000 
emigrants, which come yearly to her shores, will soon 
people her waste places. 

Some among the very first of our veteran officers are 
avowedly in favor of universal peace, as soon as means 
can be devised by which it may ensue, consistently with 
the existence of national law ; which, in its violation, 
has at present no other penalty than that of war. Why 
then should not our government — while yet the bereaved 
among us are sorrov/ing for the miseries which even a 
successful war has inflicted upon ourselves, — and the 
benevolent are grieving for those which our armies have 
been obliged to inflict upon others, — send some one of 
those veteran generals, while his laurels are yet fresh 
upon his brow, as a special envoy, to negotiate with 
Great Britain and other Christian powers, the immediate 
^"teack °^ formation of a Council of Peace ? Such a Council, 
having its constitution founded in the law of nations, 
sitting alternately in the different countries, whose govern- 
ments shall have sent delegates and sanctioned its special 
arrangements, has nothing visionary or impracticable in 
its scheme, now, when men move by steam, and send 
their thoughts by electricity. Could this great errand 



PEACE AND PROGRESS. 1Q5 

of "peace on earth" be accomplished, and that by the 1848. 
instrumentality of this nation, then, with peculiar em- 
phasis, might PROGRESS be made the watchword of the 
nineteenth century, and of the Republic of America. 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 



[Note. — It was not until tlie author had completed the foregoing pages, 
that she thought of writing a sketch of the history of California. The 
plan of this sketch, going back as it does to the first discovery and set- 
tlement of that country, is different from the preceding " Last Leaves 
of American History," and on that account it is placed before the reader 
as a separate article.] 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA, 



CHAPTER I. 

Introductory Remarks — Discovery and Settlement of Old and New 
California — Establishment of Missions by the Jesuits in Old 
California, and the Franciscans in New. 

California is the one theme which at present excites i849* 
the whole American community, and each in his sphere 

Great excite- 

feels the strong impulse which leads to action. The '"^°*- 

pursuit of wealth — the natural desire which every man 

feels to better his condition, has set in motion an almost 

incredible number of our most vigorous, enterprising, 

and useful men, particularly among the young. It is theemVrLius. 

not the refuse of our society who are going to California, 

for the journey is expensive, and they cannot command 

the means. From all our cities and villages organized 



no PROSPECTIVE IMPORTANCE. 

1849. companies are in motion, and there is scarce a hamlet 
preS^nt S ^^^ scnds an individual to go in search of gold to Cali- 
fure.^ ^ " fornia. Europe has caught the excitement, and South 
America, and the Islands of both oceans ; and California, 
so lately a poor anarchical territory of an ill-governed 
state, is now attached as an integral part of the American 
Republic, and at the moment of her becoming so, discov- 
ered to possess immense mineral riches ; and a flood of 
emigration is hastening by sea and land, such as the 
earth has never seen before, to go to the same place, vol- 
untarily and separately, without a leader. 

In a Report just laid before Congress, of the com- 
mittee to whom was referred the memorial from William 
H. Aspinwall and others, praying for aid in constructing 
a railroad across the Isthmus of Panama, the following 
estimate is made, which sets in a strong but not exag- 
gerated light, the probable future importance of Califor- 
nia : " It is believed by many who have had the best 
Anticipated opportunities of forming an opinion, that one hundred 

f;rowth of Ca- 
ifornia. thousaud emigrants will go to that territory within a year 

from this time. — At the expiration of three years, the 
time proposed for the completion of the railroad, if the 
reports of the mineral wealth of California shall be 
found to be true, it would perhaps not be regarded as 
visionary to suppose that at least half a million of peo- 
ple will have found their way to it, who will be employed 
exclusively in collecting gold, mining operations, and 
commerce." 

Not only is the desire of wealth, developed in action, 



FIRST DISCOVERERS OF THE PENINSULA. Ill 

but the benevolent and religious feelings of the com- *^^^' 
munity are engaged in planning and executing, what 
may give to our Californian emigrants our best institu- 
tions.* 

History is said to be the school of politics. It is 
certain that the statesman of that country will have 
before him no ordinary task, in brincrina; her grovernment Correct histo- 

•' ' o o o ry important 

to harmonize with the most enlightened views now pre- ^[^^ sutes- 
valent concerning human polity. He should begin with 
as correct an understanding as may be attained, of what 
has been already done ; therein will be found the causes 
of things existing. Truths and that alone, leads to wis- 
dom. 

The histories of Old and New California are so 
blended in their discovery and early settlement, that they 
cannot be separated ; and as the same method of settle- 
ment by missions prevailed in both, in this respect, to 
understand the one, is to understand the other. 

California owes its discovery to Fernando Cortez, cortez, 
the Spanish conqueror of Mexico. In 1534, Fernando 1^34. 
de Grijalva was sent by him to explore the coast of the Sends Gri- 
Pacific ; and he discovered the peninsula. In the mean 
time, Cortez, ill-treated by the court of Spain, after his 

* In New- York, on Sunday, February 18, 1849, all the Episcopal 
churches in the city took up collections for the purpose of construct- 
ing and sending out a church to St. Francisco, and of supporting a 
minister to officiate. Sermons suited to the occasion were preached 
in the churches. Other denominations are also active ; and the 
Tract, Bible, and other societies are awake. 



112 VALUABLE PEARL-FISHERY. 

1536. great services., and seeking occupation for his restless and 
pSes^'^the energetic mind, had determined to pursue the discovery 
son. '" ^^"^ in person ; and in 1536, after Charles V had superseded 
his authority in Mexico by sending out a viceroy, Cortez 
sailed ; and amidst incredible difficulties and dangers, he 
coasted both sides of the Californian Gulf. Finding that 
his affairs demanded his return, he went to Mexico, 
leaving Francisco de Ulloa to complete the survey of 
what was then called the Gulf of Cortez.* This expe- 
dition was accompanied by a pilot named Domingo Cas. 
1538. alio, who made a map of the coast, including the mouth 
(See Robert- of the Colorado, laying down Old California as a penin- 

Bon s Amen- ' j a i 

ca, note 162. g^jg^^ Nevertheless, it was afterwards, for more than a 
hundred years, generally supposed to be an island. 

No settlement was attempted on this peninsula until 
Philip III. 1596, when Philip II of Spain, in part attracted by the 
IS 96. valuable pearl-fishery found on the coast, sent Sebas- 
Sends out tian Viscaino, who established a small colony of Mexi- 

Viscaino. '' 

cans at the bay de la Paz ; but the natives, whom his 
people abused, refused to provide them food ; and he re- 
turned with his company to Mexico. Again he was sent 
out to explore the coast in search of harbors, where the 
1602, Spanish galleons employed in the East India trade, might 
Discoveries of find an asylum. Viscaino thus became the first Spanish 

Viscaino. •' -^ 

discoverer of Upper California. He discovered and named 
St. Diego and Monterey, giving on his return a glowing 
description of the beauty and fertility of the country. 

* This Gulf is also on very old maps laid down as the Vermillion. 



THE JESUIT FATHERS. ll3 

But iJie first discovery of Upjyer California was made 15 1 9. 
hy Sir Francis Drake, an Englishman, who, in 1579, gj^ Francis 
visited the northern part of New California, and named ers Northern 

Californi'X. 

it New Albion.* 

After the voyage of Viscaino, the Spanish sovereigns 
made many attempts to colonize Old California ; but 
such had been the conduct of the pearl-fishers and other 
Europeans who had visited the country, that the natives 
hated, and so annoyed them, that no permanent settle- 
ment could be formed. Thus wearied with fruitless 
attempts and expenses, Charles II, the Spanish sove- 
reign, acceded, 1697, to propositions from the Jesuits, to ie9T. 
take California under their superintendence, for the object Spanish 

* •' grants. 

of converting the natives to Christianity. 

The Presidio, or Presidency, was a kind of fort 
guarded by the military, the protectors of the neighbor- 
ino^ missions. The missions were quadrano-ular inclo- Jesuit Mis- 
sures of adobe, with gardens, to which the natives California, 
resorted to be fed, and taught religion and the useful 
arts. But their labor was exacted in return, and by 
degrees their dependence and obedience were made ser- 
vitude and slavery. 

The first of the presidios and missions were establish- 
ed by the Jesuits in Old California. It was not until 

* With regard to the name, California, we are informed that it 
was received as belonging to the peninsula, from the time of its first 
discovery by Grijalva ; but whether it was given in reference to the 
heat of the country, or whether it was supposed to have been so called 
by the natives, is not known. 



114 



MISSIONS OF NEW CALIFORNIA. 



1T66. tlie king of Spain, Charles III, began to fear, from the 

Thekin<' pi'ogress of European colonization in America, that he 

nrovrs^'waste might be anticipated in New California, that he gave 

lauds. 

orders to the Chevalier St. Croix, Viceroy of Mexico, to 
found missions and presidios in the ports of San Diego 
and Monterey. Expeditions by sea and land were set on 
foot. The Franciscan priests received the royal per- 
mission, to superintend the conversion of the Indians in 
New California, as the Jesuits had in the old province. 
Franciscan fhc first missiou in New California was established by 

Missions m •' 

New caiiior- p^anciscans, in 17G9, at St. Diego; and the second, in 
1770, at Monterey. 

The following list of the missions of New California, 
with the date of the first settlement and the number of 
inhabitants of each in 1802, is copied from the Edinburgh 
Encyclopedia, whose authority is Humboldt. 







Names. 


Founded. 


Population in 




1. 


San Diego, 


1769 


1560 




2. 


San Carlos de Monterey, 


1770 


700 


Names, &c. 


3. 


San Antonio de Padua, 


1771 


1050 


of the Mis 
sions in New 


4. 


San Gabriel, 


1771 


1050 


California. 


5. 


San Luis Obispo, 


1772 


700 




6. 


San Francisco, 


1776 


820 




7. 


San Juan Capistrano, 


1776 


1000 




8. 


Santa Clara, 


1777 


1300 




9. 


San Buenaventura, 


1782 


950 




10. 


Santa Barbara, 


1786 


1100 




11. 


La Purissima Concepcion, 


1787 


1000 




12. 


Soledad, 


1791 


570 




13. 


Santa Cruz, 


1794 


440 




14. 


San Jose, 


1797 


630 




15. 


San Miguel, 


1797 


600 




16. 


San Fernando, 


1797 


600 



ABSURD REGULATIONS. 115 

1802. 



Names. 


Founded. 


Population in 1802. 


17. San Juan Bautista, 


1797 


9 GO 


18. San Luis Rey de Francia, 


171)8 


600 



Population. 



According to Humboldt, the population of New Cali- 
fornia, including the Indians attached to the soil, and 
who had begun to cultivate their fields, was doubled in 
twelve years. In 1790, there were 7,748 souls, and in 
1802 they had increased to 15,630. 

We further quote, from the same authority, the Edin- 
burgh Encyclopedia, the following description of the 
manner in which the foundations of society were laid in 
that beautiful region, which Providence has now placed 
under a new, and we hope it may prove, a regenerating 
influence. 

Latter part 

" The number of whites, mestizoes and mulattoes, of the isth 

and begin- 

may be estimated at 1,300, upon whom alone the govern- Jgti? ceitury. 
ment can depend for the defence of the coast, in case of 

The Missions 

any military attack by an European power. The small- ""•^«'' J,^^ 
ness of this number, so disproportionate to the fertility ''''■ 
and extent of the country, is owing entirely to the absurd 
regulations by which the Spanish presidios are governed. 
and the principles of colonization followed by Spain, 
which are in general directly opposite to the true inte- 

° .^11 Unenlighten- 

rests, both of the mother country and colonies. ' It is ^'g'^^Ji^^ °' 
truly distressing,' says the Spanish navigator, Galiano, 
' that the military, who pass a painful and laborious life, 
cannot in their old age settle in the country, and employ 
themselves in agriculture. The prohibition of building 
houses in the neighborhood of the presidios is contrary 



116 INDIANS ENSLAVED. 

^QQ^' to all the dictates of sound policy. If the whites were 
permitted to employ themselves in the cultivation of the 
soil, and the rearing of cattle, and if the military, by 
establishing their wives and children in cottages, could 

The country prepare an asylum against the indiojence to which they 

not prosper- r r ./ c n j 

°"^" are too frequently exposed in their old age. New Califor- 

nia would soon become a flourishing colony and resting- 
place of the greatest utility for the Spanish navigators 
who trade between Peru, Mexico, and the Philippine 
islands.' 
1&3S. " '^^^ Governor of the Californias resides at Monterey, 

with a salary of 4,000 piastres. His authority is con- 
fined entirely to the garrisons, and the independent In- 
dians ; for he is not allowed to interfere with the affairs 

Litle power ' 

onhe Gover- ^^ ^j^^ different missions, but is only obliged to grant as- 
sistance when they claim it. Plis real subjects consist 
only of four hundred military, distributed in the different 
presidios, which are all the means that are required for 
keeping in subjection about 50,000 wandering Indians. 
Every parish is governed by two missionaries, whose 
authority over the converted Indians is absolute ; and 
Indian sia- '^^^ domesUc economy of each mission differs scarcely in 
any respects from the regulations of a West Lidi.a planta- 
tion. ' The men and women,' says La Perouse, ' are as- 
sembled by the sound of a bell ; one of the priests con- 
Religion en- 1 1 1 1 m 1 • 1 
forced. ducts them to their work, to church, and to all their othei 

exercises. We mention it with pain, the resemblance is 
so perfect, that we saw men and women loaded with 
irons, others in the stocks, and at length the noise of the 



MIND -AND CONSIENCE DEBASED. 117 

strokes of a whip struck our ears, this punishment being *^Q^» 
also admitted, but not exercised with much severity.' 
" The utmost regularity and order pervades these reli- 

Religious ex- 

gious communities. Seven hours a day are allotted to ^''=j^^^,J'"* 
labor, and two to prayers ; they have each a certain al- 
lowance of food, which consists of boiled corn and maize, 
and which is prepared and served out in the morning, at 
noon, and in the evening. On festivals, the ration is 
beef, which many of them eat raw. Corporal punish- Punishments, 
ments are inflicted on both sexes, for the neglect of pious 
exercises, or for the smallest dishonesty ; that of the wo- 
men, however, is private, while the men are exposed to 
the view of all their fellow converts, that their punish- 
ment may serve as an example. As soon as an Indian 
is baptized, he immediately becomes a member of the 

community, and subject to its laws. On no pretence The baptis- 
ed Indian se- 

whatever is he allowed to return to his rancheria* or iiarated from 

his lamily. 

family ; his fate is as decided as if he had pronounced 
eternal vows, and should he escape, he is brought back 
by force, and under pain of the lash is compelled to join 
in the solemn devotions of the altar, and to offer up his Compnisory 

'■ religion. 

unwilling prayers to that Being, who desires not the 
homage of the lips, but the i^rce and unreserved worship 
of the heart. 

" This system of government has been attempted to be 
justified from the character and disposition of its subjects. 
They are represented as a nation of children that never 

* The hamlet near the mission, where are collected the resi- 
dences of the converted Indians. 



lis SPANISH POLICY. 

i^O^» arrive at manhood ; they are small and weak, entirely 
(tNodoubt destitute of that love of liberty and independence which 

there is much , . . i n • 

trutj) in this, characterizes the northern nations, and equally ignorant 

The U. S. by ' ^ ^ & 

a regular sys- of their industi'v and arts. They have very few ideas, 

tern treat the -^ J J f 

\'ardsT ^^6 almost incapable of reasoning, and have so little sta- 
bility, that unless continually treated as children, f they 
would escape from those who have been at the trouble of 
instructing them, and again return to their original bar- 
barism. But if the Californian Indian be thus destitute 
of the ideas and qualities of men, he will, by such means, 
be continually kept so. He has no property that he can 
(t The slaves call his own.f His labor and actions are entirely under 

ot our South- ' •' 

^'ha%4T'* ^^® direction of his masters, whom he has been taught to 
regard as superior beings. 

^ i\f. ^ ^ ^ '^ Hii i^ 

" The great number of both sexes who are in a state 

of celibacy, and have taken vows to continue so, and the 

Policy of de- invariable policy of the Spanish government to admit 

pression. 

only one religion, and to employ the most violent means 
in support of it, will incessantly oppose a new impedi- 
ment to its increase."* 

California has heretofore attracted so little notice, that 
of' the emiy" mere sketches concerning it are all which can be found 

his:ory of C. 

in Standard English authorities. Of these, perhaps. Dr. 
Robertson, on early American history, occupies the first 
place. Although he had carefully studied for his His- 
tory of America, a host of Spanish writers, yet the follow- 



Edinburgh Encyclopedia. First Am. Ed. 1832. 



ROBERTSON S HISTORY. 119 

ing extract comprises all that his text contains of Cali- 1836. 
fornia. 

"The peninsula of California, on the other side of tlie 
Vermillion Sea, (the Gulf of California,) seems to have 
been less known to the ancient Mexicans than the pro- 
vinces which I have mentioned.* It was discovered by Dr. Robert- 

son's account 

Cortez m the year 1536. Durmg a long period it con- of the first 

discovery of 

tinned to be so little frequented, that even its form was ^-ai'^ornia. 
unknown, and in most charts it was represented as an 
island, not as a peninsula. Though the climate of this 
country, if we may judge from its situation, must be 
very desirable, the Spaniards have made small progress 
in peopling it. Towards the close of the last century, 

* These are Sonora and Cinaloa, in which valuable gold mines 
had been discovered. " At Cineguilla, in the province of Sonora," 
says Dr. Robertson, " they entered a plain of fourteen leagues in ex- 
tent, in which, at the depth of only sixteen inches, they found gold in 

Gold mines in 

grains of such a size, that some of them weighed nine marks, and in Sonora. 
such quantities, that in a short time, with a few laborers, they col- 
lected a thousand marks of gold in grains, even without taking time 
to wash the earth that had been dug, which appeared to be so rich, 
that persons of skill computed that it might yield what would be 
equal in value to a million of pesos. Belbre the end of the year 1771, 
above two thousand persons were settled in Cineguilla, under the 
government of proper magistrates, and the inspection of several ec- 
clesiastics. As several other mines, not inferior in richness to that 
of Cineguilla, have been discovered, both in Sonora and Cinaloa, it 
is probable that these neglected and thinly inhabited provinces may 
eoon become as populous and valuable as any part of the Spanish 
empire of America." 



120 Robertson's account of the jesuits. 

ITOO. the Jesuits, who had great merit in exploring this ne- 

TheJesnitsin gl^cted provincc, and in civilizing its rude inhabitants, 

nil' *"^ imperceptibly acquired a dominion over it as complete as 

that which they possessed in their missions in Paraguay, 

and they labored to introduce into it the same policy, and 

to govern the natives by the same maxims. In order to 

prevent the court of Spain from conceiving any jealousy 

of their designs and operations, they seem studiously to 
About 1752 ^ ^ -^ _ '' ^ 

the Jesuits are jn^ave depreciated the country, by representing the cli- 

^uSy"^ ^^^ mate as so disagreeable and unwholesome, and the soil 
as so barren, that nothing but a zealous desire of convert- 
ing the natives could have induced them to settle there. 
Several public-spirited citizens endeavored to undeceive 
their sovereigns, and to give a better view of California ; 
The Jesuits but in vaiu. At length, on the expulsion of the Jesuits 

were expelled 

fVom Spain in fpQi^-j the Spanish dominions, the court of Madrid, as 

1/70, the year r ' ' 

independ!'^'^'^ pi'onc at that juncture to suspect the purity of the order's 
intentions, as formerly to confide in them with implicit 
trust, appointed Don Joseph Galvez, whose abilities have 
since raised him to the high rank of minister for the In- 
dies, to visit that peninsula. His account of the country 
''vaiuabt^ ^^^ favorable ; he found the pearl fishery on its coast to 
be valuable, and he discovered mines of gold of a very 
promising appearance. From its vicinity to Cinaloa and 
Sonora, it is probable, that, if the population of these 
reckoned a pi'ovinces shall increase in the manner which I have sup- 

desolate and 

worthless dis- posed, California may, by degrees, receive from them such 
a recruit of inhabitants, as to be no longer reckoned among 
the desolate and useless districts of the Spanish empire." 



JESUITS DEFExNDED B"^ M. RICHER. 121 

Whether (he Jesuits did slander the country, as Dr. ^'^^^' 
Robertson and others suppose, is somewhat problematical, time in"which 

the Jesuits ar«» 

A French authority which we here quote, gives a ditierent accused. 
account of their report. This writer confirms the his- 
tory which we have given of the first discovery of Cali- 
fornia, omitting however the survey of Grijalva, made 
under the direction of Cortez, two years before he went in 
person to the peninsula. 

" Apres que Fernand Cortez eut fait la conquete de auotation 

^ ^ ^ from M. Ri- 

i'ancien Mexique, il tenta de nouvelles decouvertes dans ^^'^'^^Jej""^ 
les pays voisins, decouvrit en 1534, le bout de la Presque 
Isle de la Californie. En 1539 il envoy a Francois 
d'Ulloa avec deux batimens, pour continuer la decou- 
verte. II visita la cote orientale de la Californie, entra 
dans le golfe et avanca jusqu au fond. Depuis ce terns les 
Espagnols y ont fait des expeditions, ont doune des noms 
aux Caps et aux Ports. En 1683, le Vice-Roi du Mexi- 
que fit construire un Fort et une Englise dans ce pays. Jesuits de- 
fended from 
Les Jesuites penetrerent dans la Californie, y construisi- Jiie^ ^fTem'sh 

rent une habitation. Selon eux c^est un des beaux pays ^i^'^'^^'^- 
du monde : le terrein y produit alondamment sans culture. 
On en tireroit un grand parti, si on y apportoii tout 
r attention qu^il merite.^^* 

* " After Fernando Cortez had made the conquest of ancient 
Mexico, he attempted new discoveries in the neighboring countries; 
and discovered in 1534 the extremity of the peninsula of CaHfornia. 
In 1539 he sent Francisco d'Ulloa with two vessels to continue the 
discovery. He visited the eastern coast of California, entered, and 
advanced to the bottom of the gulf Since this time the Spaniards 



IS^ TRANSLAl-ION. 

1683* have made expeditions there, and have given names to capes 
and ports. In 1683 the Viceroy of Mexico built a fort and a church 
in this country. The Jesuits have penetrated into California, and 
built a habitation (for a mission). According to them, it is one of 
the most beautiful countries in the world : the earth there pro- 
duces abundantly without culture. Great advantages might he 
drawn from it, if it attracted all the attention which it merits." — 
Histoire Moderne. Pour servir de suite a I'Histoire Ancienne de M. 
RoUin. Continuee par " M. Richer." Vol. xx. p. 10. 



CHAPTER II. 

The Spanish System of Treatment to the Indians, compared with 
that of the American Government — Account of Upper Cali- 
fornia — its Presidio, Missions, &c., in 1822. 

Ordinarily the river keeps the course which was 184T. 
begun by the rivulet. The little city of Rome was 
commenced in the military spirit ; when her borders 
were spreading over Italy it was by offensive war ; and 
when her empire was grasping the civilized world, the 
identical character of military aggression remained. Nations nice 

rivers, apt to 

In California there will be tendencies cominsj from keep their first 

o course. 

the order of things already established. Are those ten- 
dencies good? encourage them. Are they bad ? sufTer 
them not to remain, but root them out with an unsparing 
hand. In the sudden tide of a great immigration, the 
power now exists. The affluent welling up from a 

California 

fountain just burst from the earth, is so much larger ^^^^l ^^^^ 
and stronger in its current, than the original long and ^^^^^ '°°' 
little stream, that now its force may be stemmed. 
But once fall into its course, and the power to change is 
lost. 

We believe that the system of the priests respecting 



124 RULE OF THE PRIESTS *NOT PATERNAL. 

184T. the Indians was radically bad, and should at once be 
changed for that of the United States, in which the 
Indians are regarded as wards of the government. But 
we perceive that there is a fashion of speaking on this 

The treat- subjcct in California, which Americans who go there 

inent of the . , ., i • i i m i i p i • 

Indians imbibc, which throws a veil over the truth oi history, 

should be 

changed. and is Calculated to mislead the understanding and the 
conscience of those who ought to be the founders of a new 
order of things. Col. Fremont, in his late able " Geogra- 
phical Memoir," thus speaks of the rule of the priests 
and the character of the Indians : " Under the mild and 

Difference of patcmal administration of the 'Fathers^ the docile cha- 

opinion res- 
pecting the racter of the Indians was made available for labor : and 

"Fathers." ' 

thousands were employed in the fields, the orchards, and 
the vineyards." We could quote other authors who have 
used similar language. 

This is not, we think, a true picture of the Califor- 
nian Indian. By nature, he is indolent. But by force 
or necessity, or by an appeal, not to his reason, but to the 
strong superstition of the Indian nature, he may be, as 

The Indian 

should be he was by the " Fathers, brouo;ht to submit, and to 

treated not as •' ^ o 

^"^,f J^ ^, '"7f : labor; and thus minister to the accommodation of the 
bfe 'a'lldTsen- whitcs. And WO objcct, in the second place, to an admin- 

sitive being. 

istration being called mild and paternal, which brings 

men by force to the baptismal font, and then, by military 
government and superstitious fear, obliges them to cut 
the ties of family and kindred, and settle into a state of 
slavery ; because the Indian race can thus " be made 
available for labor." The remains of this system, as we 



THE AMERICAN SYSTEM PATERNAL. 125 

shall see, are still in California, though in a modified 184T. 
form — the tyranny begun by ecclesiastics, being carried 
on by seculars. We hope Americans will, as we have 
already remarked, pursue the more noble policy adopted 
by our general government, which regards the well-being 
and the improvement of the Indian himself, and which is 
therefore truly paternal. 

We have, in the foregoing pages, given accounts of 
Protestant writers respecting the arrangements of the 
ecclesiastical Fathers of New California, and the misera- 
ble condition of society in which those arrangements had 
resulted. We naturally desire to know, to what extent wni Catholic 

^^,1. . ,1 -,, , . mi writers accre- 

Catholic writers would accredit their statements. 1 ruth, dit Protestant 

accounts. 

concerning this interesting region, to which s(f many in 
whose fate we are interested are now hastening, we most 
anxiously desire to learn and to teach. Heretofore Cali- 
fornia can scarcely be said to have had either a geography 
or a history. But such is now its actual increase, and 
such its splendid prospects, that throughout the land it is 
becoming the one luminous point to which attention is 
attracted. We hope, that, among other good objects, 

t The writer 

those who go thither, will seek to aid the historian in will thank 

any one to 

correctly settling the foundations of its history. f or affi!r/new 

Mr. Edwin Bryant, who, in 1846, travelled overland faJtsr*^ '"^" 
to New California, has, with praiseworthy zeal, talent, 

' ' ^ J ' ' Merits of Mr. 

and industry, given us an interesting volume,* in which ^" £,ok."''^ 

* " What I saw in California." By Edwin Bryant. We have, 
for brevity, made occasional omissions and alterations in phraseology 



126 SPANISH ARRAJ^GEMENTS. 

1822. he has done no little service to history. He has inserted 
" an extract and a translation from a Spanish Catholic 
writer " of 1822, which not only affords us the means of 
making the desired comparison between Catholic and 
Protestant authorities, but gives us the history of the set- 
tlements at a later date. From this article we copy the 
following facts. 

Account of Government. — Upper California, on account of its 

Upper Cal. by * ^ 

S,oiic"ini8Sl small population, takes the character of a territory, the 
government of which is under the charge of a comman- 
dant general, whose powers depend upon the president 
and congress of the Republic of Mexico. The inhabit- 
ants of the territory are divided amongst the Presidios^ 
Missions* and Towns. 

The Presidio, Presidios. — The uccessity of protecting the apostolic 

or Presidency. ^• • fin • p i 

predication, was the cause of the formation of the pre- 
sidios. That of San Diego was the first ; Santa Barbara, 
Monterey, and San Francisco, were built afterwards. 
The form of all of them is nearly the same, a square 
inclosure of adobe, 200 yards in each front, and about 
twelve feet in height. Within are a chapel, storehouses, 
houses for the commandant, officers and troops. At the 
entrance of the presidio, there are quarters for the sol- 
diers, composing the corps de garde. 
The buildings Xhc buildiiigs in the presidios were placed there for 

contained. /=> i i 

defence against surprise from the wild Indians. But 

and arrangement — but to Mr. Bryant's translation we are indebted 
the same as if the quotation were entirely verbatim. 



PRESIDIOS AND MISSIONS. 127 

this cause having ceased they ought to be demolished, as ^^^2* 
they are daily threatening to become complete ruins ; 
and from the limited spaces contained in the inclosures, 
they must be very incommodious. Several private indi- 
viduals have built comfortable houses without the pre- 
sidios. Great emulation in building is evinced ; and no 
doubt but in a short time there will be considerable 
towns in California. 

At the distance of one, or, at the most, two miles Military de- 
fences, 
from the presidio, and near to the anchoring-ground,* is 

a fort, which has a few pieces of artillery of small 

calibre. The battalion of each presidio is made up of 

eighty or more mounted men, a number of auxiliary 

troops, and a detachment of artillery. The commandant 

of each presidio is the captain of its respective company, 

and he has charge of all thing^s relatino; to the marine 

department. 

Missions. — The missions contained in the territory 

are twenty-one. They were built at different epochs ; that 

of San Diego, the most southerly, in 1769 ; its distance filst^mlL^on 

in Up. Cal. 

from the presidio of the same name, is two leagues, founded. 
The rest were built successively, according to circum- 
stances and necessity. The edifices in some of these 
missions are more extensive than in others, but in form 
they are all nearly alike. They are all made of mud- 
bricks (adobe). In all of them may be found commo- 



* The four presidios previously named, are all sea-ports ; not so 
the missions. 



128 THE INDIAN RJSSTCHERIA. 

^^^^* dious habitations for the ministers, storehouses in which 
Accommoda- ^^ ^^^P their goods^ proportional granaries, offices for soap- 
makers, weavers, and blacksmiths, — and large gardens, 
the'3'iiSns^ horse and cattle pens, and independent apartments for 
Indian youths of each sex. A well-built and much or- 
namented church forms a part of each mission. 

Rancherias. — The Indians reside about two hundred 

yards from the mission building, in a place called the 

(Some ne- ^^^c^'^^^^- ^^^ ^lost of the missious the rancheria is a 

fn the'south- confiued structure of adobe, while in others the Indians 

ern States, 

are of brick, are allowcd, according? to their primitive custom, to build 

two stories, a ' o 1 

auachid!?^" their village of wigwams ; which being made of sticks, 
and covered with bulrushes, can easily be destroyed and 
renewed, which their uncleanly habits make desirable. 
Opposite the rancherias, and near to the mission, is 
placed a small garrison, with proportionate rooms, for a 
b corporal and five soldiers, wdth their families. This 

d^alTsareVpt Small garrisoH is sufficient to overawe the gentile In- 

in order. 

dians,* there having heen some examples made, which 
causes them to respect this small force. Besides keeping 
the Indians in subjection, they run post with a monthly 
correspondence, or with any extraordinary message that 
may be necessary for government. 

The Padres. — All the missions in Upper California 
are under the charge of religious men of the order of 



The unconverted Indians in California are called gentiles ; an 
odd application of a term used in Scripture, not for those who are 
not Christians, but for those who are not Jews. 



THE FRANCISCAN PADRES. 129 

San Francisco. At the present time their number is 1S 22. 

twenty-seven, most of them of an advanced age. Each 

mission has one of these fathers for its administrator, and 

he holds absolute authority. The tilling of the ground, 

the gathering of the harvest, the slaughtering of the 

cattle, the weaving, and every thing that concerns the 

mission, is under the direction of the fathers, without any power of the 

ladies. 

other person interfering in any way whatever, so that if 
one mission has the good fortune to be superintended by 
an industrious and discreet padre, the Indians have in 
abundance all the real necessaries of life ; at the same 
time the nakedness and misery of any one mission are a 
palpable proof of the inactivity of its director. 

Extent of the Missions, numbers, &;c. — The mis- 
sions extend their possessions from one extremity of the 
territory to the other, and have made the limits of one 
mission from those of another. Though they do not re- 
quire all this land for their agriculture and the mainte- 
nance of their stock, yet they have appropriated the The Priests 

seek to mono- 

whole — always strongly opposing any individual who po'ize all the 
may wish to settle himself or his family on any piece of 
land between them. But it is to be hoped that the neces- 
sity of increasing the people of reasoji* and augmenting 

* It is thus that the white inhabitants are distinguished in Cali- 
fornia, and it betokens an entire acquiescence in the fact of the 
innate superiority of the white race — a superiority, which in the po- 
litical fimily should be, like that of the father in the domestic circle, 
to seek the means of providing for, making happy, and improving 
the whole. 



130 THE SOURCES OF THEIR WEALTH. 

^^^^' private property, M'ill cause the government to take ade- 
quate measures for the interests of all. Amongst all the 
missions there are about 21,500 Catholic Indians. Of 
these, some missions have 3000 or perhaps 4000, whilst 

The wealth others havo scarcely 400 ; and the riches of the missions 

oi the Padre 

thr'nmube? ^^'® ^^ proportion. Besides the Indians already spoken 

of bis Slaves. /. , . . , • i i i i i t 

01, each mission has a considerable number who live 

chiefly on farms annexed. 

Character and Condition of the Indians. — The 

Indians are naturally careless, uncleanly, and of very 

limited mental capacity. In the small arts they are not 

indiaiS'in" deficient in ideas of imitation, but they never will be in- 
ferior race. rr\, • 1 • I f 1 • 

venters. Iheir true character is that oi being revenge- 
ful and timid. The education they receive in their 
infancy is not the proper one to develope their reason, 
and if it were, they seem not to be capable of. any 
good impression. All these Indians, are unhealthy 
and physically feeble ; and the records of births and 
deaths show ten deaths to one hirth / Such is the 
assertion of a Spanish authority in 1822, which is 
a period within the vaunted reign of the old Spanish 
padres. 

Productions and Commerce — Agriculture, &c. — 

The general productions of the country are, the breed 

of the larger class of cattle and sheep, horses, wheat, 

maize or Indian corn, beans, peas, and other articles. 

The grape The vegetables and garden fruits which are produced in 

and olive. ^ ° 

the missions more to the south are in great variety. There 
the grape and the olive grow in abundance. Of all the 



TRAFFIC WITHOUT MONEY. 131 

articles of production, the most lucrative is the large cat- ^^^^' 
tie, their hides and tallow affording an active commerce. 
The only articles which foreign vessels seek on 

Hides and 

this coast, are hides and tallow ; for which they taiiow the sta- 

' -" •' j)le comniodi- 

barter in the territory. It is well known that at any ^'^^' 
of these ports there is no possibility of realizing any 
money, for here it does not circulate. The goods im- 
ported by foreign vessels are intended to facilitate the 
purchase of hides and tallow, it being well known that 
the missions have no interest in money, but desire 
such goods as are necessary for the Indians. Several 
persons who have brought goods to sell for nothing but 
money, have not been able to sell them. 1816. 

It is now about six years since hides and tallow About tiie 

time when the 

were first gathered for commerce. The annual number trade in hides 

° began. 

of hides sold to foreign vessels is about 35,000, and the 
amount of tallow about twenty-five pounds for each hide. 
Flax, linen, wine, olive oil, grain, and other agricultural 
productions might exist in profusion if there were stimu- 
lants to excite industry ; but this not being the case, 
there is just grain enough sown and reaped for home con- 
sumption. Were it not for the want of sufficient land, 
of which the inhabitants cannot obtain a rightful owner- 
ship, farming operations would be much more extensive. 
All the presidial companies are composed of the natives 
of the country ; but most of them are entirely indo- 
lent, it being very rare for any individual to strive to 
augment his fortune. Dancing, horse-riding, and gam- 
bling occupy all their time. The arts are entirely un- 



132 CLIMATE SALUBRIOUS. 

^^^^* known, and I am doubtful if there is one individual who 
exersisfjs any trade ; very few understand the first rudi- 
ments of letters, and the other sciences are unknown 
among them. 

Towns — The White Race. — The towns contained 
1822, few and in this district are three, the most populous being that of 

small. 

Angeles, containing 1200 inhabitants ; St Joseph's, 600 ; 
and the village of Branciforte, 200. They are all formed 
imperfectly and without order, each person having built 
his own house on the spot he thought most convenient for 
himself. 

The whites are in general robust, healthy, and well 
made. The age of eighty and one hundred has always 
been common in this climate ; most infirmities are un- 

Healthfulness 

of the whites, kuown here, and the freshness and robustness of the 
people show the beneficial influence of the climate ; the 
women, in particular, have always the roses blooming on 
their cheeks. 



/ 



CHAPTER III. 

Lewis and Clarke's Expedition in the years 1803-4-5. — Fremont's 
Exploration to the South Pass, 1842. 

Having now shown the condition of California while 
under the Spanish and Mexican governments, we next 
proceed with some account of the steps by which, among 
us, attention was called to this country, information ob- 

tained, and interest excited. This will lead to the con- „. ^ 

' Hiitory con- 

sideration of the various overland routes by which it is that" of Ore- 
gon, 
approached, and in this point of view its history is con- 
nected with that of Oregon. 

Oregon, as has been stated, became a territory of the it92. 

United States by means of the discovery of Capt. Grey, Grey's disco- 
very. 

which was made in the year 1 792, 2 1 5 years after that of 
Upper California by Sir Francis Drake. 

At the beginning of the present century, the vast 
region containing the head waters of the Missouri and j^^ ^j^^ ^^_ 
other western affluents of the Mississippi, were as little f9th"clnt.uryt 

tlie region of 

known as the interior of Africa. The first exploration the Rocky 

'■ Mountains 

made by the government of the United States was set on ""•'"o^n. 
foot by President Jefferson, shortly after the acquisition 
of Louisiana ; and conducted by Meriwether Lewis, a 



134 OREGON. 

i^^^' native of Virginia, a man eminently fitted for the bold 

Lewis and ^^^ ai'duous Undertaking. Lewis was accompanied and 

by'jefl'er^n, aided by Clarke. In the year 1803, they travelled up 

make surveys 

'^m-i-T^ the Missouri to the Great Falls, when leaving that stream, 
they pursued a westerly course, crossed the Rocky 
Mountains in about lat. 47°, and soon after struck upon 
the waters of the Columbia. They examined its main 
branches, and followed its course to the Pacific Ocean. 
Thus they became the first explorers of that great river, 
and by this means, the title of the United States to the 
region which was watered by the Columbia and its afflu- 
ents, was confirmed. From the favorable accounts which 
they gave of the country on their return, a few Ameri- 
can settlers were led thither. The first permanent 
establishment made in Oregon was a trading-house of the 

First settle- 
ment. Missouri Fur Company established in 1808, on Lewis 

1811. river. In 1811 the Pacific Fur Company, under John 

founS. Jacob Astor, of New-York, founded Astoria at the mouth 

of the Columbia. 

In the meantime Great Britain laid claim to Oregon, 

especially the northern portion ; and the Hudson Bay Fur 

Company occupied, with their trading-houses, some of 

the best locations in the country. This joint occupancy 

of American and British subjects was sanctioned by the 

Joint occu- treaty of 1818 with sreat Britain, and continued until 

pancy of Ore- " ^ 

^"IoTJ.^^^ the treaty of 1846, when Oregon, with the boundary of 
49°, the former extreme northern limit of the Republic, 
was relinquished to the United States. 

After the surveys of Lewis and Clarke, little geo- 



Fremont's first expedition. 135 

grapliical light was thrown upon the regions beyond the ^Q^^' 
Rocky Mountains, and the routes by which they were 
approached, till 1842. Early in the spring of that year, Fremontsent 

to explore the 

Capt. Fremont, an officer of the U. S. Topographical '■o^l^e thmugh 
Engineers, received orders from the American Execu- ^**" 

tive, through Col. Abort, the chief of that bureau, to 
explore, and report upon the country, between the fron- 
tiers of Missouri and the South Pass, in the Rocky Moun- 
tains, and on the line of the Kansas and Great Platte 
rivers. 

In the early part of June, Capt. Fremont left the June lo, Fre- 
mont leaves 
mouth of the Kansas — travelled along its fertile vallev — ■ ^iif mouth of 

'-' •' the Kansas. 

then struck off upon the sterile bank of the Platte — fol- 
lowed its South Fork to St. Vrain's Fort — thence north- 
erly to Fort Laramie, on the North Fork of the same July 15, at 

Ft. Laramie. 

river. Following up from this point, the North Fork, 
and then its affluent, the Sweet-Water river, he was 
conducted, by a gentle ascent, to that wonderful gap in 
the Rocky Mountains, called the South Pass ; which he August 17, 

the South 

reached on the 7th of August. Pass. 

As this great natural gateway between the portions 
of our Republic, on either side of these formidable moun- 
tains, has become a point of great importance, we insert 
Capt. Fremont's description in his own words. " About 
six miles from our encampment brought us to the sum- 
mit. The ascent had been so gradual, that with all the 
intimate knowledge possessed by Carson, who had made descdpt?" of 

the South 

this country his home for seventeen years, we were P^^^. 
obliged to watch very closely to find the place at which 



136 THE SOUTH -PASS. 

1842. we had reached the culminating point. This was be- 
tween two low hills, rising on either hand fifty or sixty- 
feet. When I looked back at them, from the foot of the 
immediate slope on the western plain, their summits ap- 
peared to be about one hundred and twenty feet above. 
From the impression on my mind at this time, and sub- 
sequently on our return, I should compare the elevation 
which we surmounted immediately at the Pass, to the as- 
cent of the Capitol hill from the avenue, at Washington. It 
is difficult for me to fix positively the breadth of this Pass. 
***** It will be seen that it in no manner re- 
Notamoun- scmbles the places to which the term is commonly ap- 

tain gorge. 

plied — nothing of the gorge-like character and winding 
ascents of the Alleghany passes in America ; nothing of 
the Great St. Bernard and Simplon passes in Europe. 
Approaching it from the mouth of the Sweet Water, a 
sandy plain, 120 miles long, conducts, by a gradual and 
7,000 feet regular ascent, to the summit, about 7,000 feet above the 

the height of ^ 

^ai!^^ sea; and the traveller, without being reminded of any 
change by toilsome ascents, suddenly finds himself on 
Wonderful ^^® Waters which flow to the Pacific ocean. By the 
°^^"way^^^^ route we had travelled, the distance from Fort Laramie is 
320 miles, or 950 from the mouth of the Kansas. Con- 
tinuing our march, we reached, in eight miles from the 
Pass, the Little Sandy, one of the tributaries of the Colo- 
rado, or Green River, of the Gulf of California." 

Mr. Edwin Bryant confirms this extraordinary ac- 
count, and gives further interesting particulars. In his 
Journal, under date of July 12, 1846, he says, " The gap 



OREGON EMIGRANTS. 137 

in the mountain is many miles in breadth. The ascent 1846. 
of the Platte and Sweet Water has been so gradual, that 

. „ , „ , , . Extract from 

although the elevation or the rass above the sea is, ac- Bryant's 

Journal, July 

cording to some observations, between seven and eight, 12, 1846. 
and others, nine and ten thousand feet, yet from the sur- 
face we have travelled over, we have been scarcely 
conscious of rising to the summit of a high ridge of moun- 
tains. The temperature has given us the strongest 
admonitions of our position. The Pass, where the emi- 
grant trail crosses it, is in latitude about 42^° north, and 
longitude 31-io degrees west from Washington city. 
The wagon trail, after we reach the summit, passes two 
or three miles over a level surface, between low sloping 
elevations composed of sand and clay, and covered with 
a vegetation now brown and dead, when it descends, by 
a gentle declivity, to a spring known to emigrants as the 
" Pacific Spring," the water from which, flows into the 
Colorado river of the West, and is emptied into the Gulf 
of California." 

In examining the accounts of travellers, we notice 

Emigrants for 

every thing material concerning emigration. While m Oregon, 
the valley of the Kansas, (.Tune 17) Capt. Fremont 184 2» 
learned that a party of emigrants of sixteen families, 
sixty-four persons, had preceded his party, who were 
going to the Columbia river, conducted by Dr. White, an 
agent of the United States government of Oregon Terri- 
tory. July 2d, Fremont passed near where a party of 
Oregon emigrants had encamped, and at Fort Laramie 
met one Oregon party returning. They had proceeded 



June 17. 



138 NO LAND EMIGRANTS TO CALIFORNIA. 

1842. be3^ond Fort Hall, when they became, with reason, 
alarmed at the hostile attitude of the savages. They 
were, however, led safely, in retracing their perilous 
route, by Mr. Fitzpatrick (a person often honorably men- 
tioned by Fremont and others) and were returning under 
the conduct of Mr. Bridger ; the same, doubtless, whose 
name is now given to a Fort beyond the South Pass. 
Although Capt. Fremont saw many parties of Indians, 
yet this is the amount of what he saw and heard of civ- 
in 1842 no ilized emigrants, in his solitary route in the summer of 
tKmi route 1842. All of the few, that he saw or heard of, were for 

for California. 

Oregon — not one for California. 

With the survey of the South Pass was accomplished 
the duty assigned him for that year, and he returned 
after completing it. Of the road which he had passed 
over he says, " From the mouth of the Kansas to the 
Green River valley, west of the Rocky Mountains, there 
is no such thing as a mountain road on the line of commu- 
nication.^^ 

Among the party who accompanied Fremont was one 

man too remarkable to be passed over without notice. 

This was his guide, the hunter, Christopher, or Kit 

Excellent Cai'son, a name which will be remembered for public 

character of 

Kit Carson, servicos, iu connection with great acquisitions to geo- 
graphical knowledge, and also as the impersonation of 
many of the best traits of humanity. We ever find Kit 
Carson, unselfish, faithful, efficient, untiring, quick in 
action, and full of resources ; — free and fearless as the 
north wind, yet kind and gentle as the south. Those to 



KIT CARSON. 139 

whom he renders his voluntary service, he inspires with 1842. 
a loving confidence, which makes the tongue or the pen 
linger, while they write or speak of him, as though the 
subject were pleasant. How little, in his innate meek- 
ness, did Kit Carson suppose, that he was to be a famous 
man, and have his name in books, and even on maps, — a 
lake and a river bearing his name. He has probably Kit Carson 

^ r ^ one of the 

been the greatest traveller over the regions extending from ''^'"time^ ^"* 
the Mississippi to the Pacific, and is the best guide 
through them, of any man living ; and he has also per- 
formed acts of genuine heroism, some of which we shall 
hereafter relate. 

Fremont's book is open before me, where a little in- 
cident is so graphically related as to be almost equal to 
a portrait. This incident also shows the perils of tra- 
vellers through desolate prairies, and that the American 
Indian still inspires terror. 

" The next morning (June 22) we had a specimen of 
the false alarms to which all parties in these wild regions 
are subject. A man, who was a short distance in the 
rear, came spurring up in great haste, shouting, Indians ! 
Indians ! He had made out twenty-seven. I imme- 
diately halted ; arms were examined and put in order ; Kit's eques- 
trian portrait, 
the usual preparations made ; and Kit Carson, springing 

upon one of the hunting horses, crossed the river, and 
galloped off" into the opposite prairies, to obtain some cer- 
tain intelligence of their movements. Mounted on a fine 
horse, without a saddle, and scouring bareheaded over 
the prairies, Carson was one of the finest pictures of a 



140 

184 2. horseman I have ever seen. A short time enabled him 
to discover that the Indian war-party of twenty-seven 
consisted of six elk, who had been gazing curiously at 
our caravan as it passed by, and were now scampering 
off at full speed." 



CHAPTER IV. 

Fremont's Discoveries on his second Expedition in 1843. 

So ably had Captain Fremont fulfilled his mission, 1843. 
that he was sent by the government the following year, ^eTeTon a' 
on a second expedition, whose objects were to make ex- ^^^ duion!'^^ 
plorations which should form a connection with his pre- 
ceding reconnoissance, and with the surveys of Com- 
mander Wilkes of the Expedition on the Pacific coast, 
so as to give a connected survey of the interior of our 
continent. Of the information concerning California 
elicited by Capt. Wilkes, we shall speak hereafter. 
Capt. Fremont set out earlier than the preceding year jyjarch 7 
and took with him thirty-nine persons, a larger party of the 

Kansas. 

than that of 1842, by nearly one half. He also took for ''artJ' 39. 
protection against hostile savages a brass twelve-pound 
howitzer and three soldiers to manage it. Capt. Fremont 
had again an interesting companion in Mr. Preuss, whose 
drawings illustrate the history of all his expeditions. 
Mr. Fitzpatrick was guide. 

Fremont set out on his former track ; but instead of 
striking from the Kansas to the Platte, he followed the 



142 RIDGE OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 

i^^^'^* Kansas to the junction of the Republican and Smoky 
Hill Forks, which twp streams together form that river. 
Pursuing for some days the course of the Republican, 
he then crossed to the South Fork of the Platte, and was 
at St. Vraine's Fort on the 4th of July. Here he turned, 

July 4, 

^^^'i^rt.'"^'' and following up for a time the South Fork of the Platte, 
came upon an affluent of the Arkansas, and pursued it 
to the parent stream, near the location of the Boilinjr (or 

July 18, f ' -5 \ 

*^^^!^.^'^^° effervescing) Springs, whose waters Mr. Preuss (a Ger- 
man) found to much resemble those of Seltzer. 

Here Capt. Fremont was likely to meet a great disap- 
pointment in regard to an expected and much needed 
recruit of mules, but he had the good fortune to meet 
and again secure the services of his " reliable friend, 
Mr. Christopher Carson," whom he immediatlely dis- 
patched to Bent's Fort to procure the needed supply. 
St. Vraine's Returning to St. Vraine's, he found the animals collected, 

Fort. 

and already at the Fort awaiting his arrival. 

Capt. Fremont here divided the party. Taking with 
himself thirteen men, he sent the remainder under Mr. 
Fitzpatrick, the guide, by the ordinary route to Oregon, 
through the South Pass, to Fort Hall on Snake River, 
where he was to meet them ; he then took a north- 
westerly course and ascended the mountain, following 
the Cache a la Pondre, one of the head streams of the 
Platte. The party then travelled at an elevation of seven 
or eight thousand feet on a high plateau, which forms 
the dividing ridge, between the two oceans bounding the 
continent. 



FREMONT ENTERS CALIFORNIA. 143 

On the 21st of August, now exploring the eastern 1843. 
part of Upper California, Fremont was in the fertile and ^^'^^"'^ V\ 

* ^ ^ ' Near the Salt 

picturesque valley of Bear River, and approaching by its Up^ei'ca". 
course the Great Salt Lake. "We were now," said he, 
" entering a region which for us possessed a strange and 
extraordinary interest. We were upon the waters of 
the famous lake which forms a salient point among the 
remarkable geographical features of the country, and 
around which, the vague and superstitious accounts of the 
trappers had thrown a delightful obscurity, which we 
anticipated pleasure in dispelling, but which in the mean 
time, left a crowded field for the exercise of our imagina- 
tion. 

" In our occasional conversations with the few old 
hunters who had visited this region, it had been a sub- 
ject of frequent speculation, and the wonders which they 
related were not the less agreeable because they were 
highly exaggerated and impossible. 

" Hitherto this lake had been seen only by trappers, 
who were wandering through the country in search of 
new beaver streams, caring very little for geography ; 
its islands had never been visited ; and none were to be 

Neither 

found who had entirely made the circuit of its shores ; geographical 

nor historical 

and no instrumental observations or geographical survey, *^",,°'^2® 
of any description, had ever been made any where in 
the neighboring region. It was generally supposed that 
it had no visible outlet ; but among the trappers, includ- 
ing those in my own camp, were many who believed that 
somewhere on its surface was a terrible whirlpool, 



&• 



144 A TRAVELLING HOME. 

*Q^3. through which its waters found their way 1o the ocean by 
some subterranean communication. All these things 
had made a frequent subject of discussion in our desul- 
tory conversations around the fires at night ; and my 
own mind had become tolerably well filled with their in- 
definite picture, and insensibly colored with their ro- 
mantic descriptions, which, in the pleasure of excitement, 
I was well disposed to believe, and half expected to 
realize. 

" We continued our road down the river, and at night 
encanqjed with a family of emigrants — two men, women, 

A family and scvcral children — who appeared to be bringing up 

of emigrants 

for Oregon, the rear of the great caravan. I was struck with the 
fine appearance of their cattle, some six or eight yoke 
of oxen, which really looked as well as if they had been 
all summer at work on some good farm. It was strange 
to see one small family travelling along through such a 
country, so remote from civilization. Some nine years 
since, such a security might have been a fatal one ; but 
since their disastrous defeats in the country a little north, 
the Blackfeet have ceased to visit these waters. Indians, 
however, are very uncertain in their localities ; and the 
friendly feelings also of those now inhabiting it may be 
changed. This is the route all the emigrants now travel 
to Oregon. 

" Crossing, in the afternoon (of the next day), the 
point of a narrow spur, we descended into a beautiful 
bottom, formed by a lateral valley, which presented a 
picture of home-beauty that went directly to our hearts. 



A CALIFORNIAN EMIGRANT. 145 

The edge of the wood, for several miles along the river, ^^"^3. 
was dotted with the white covers of emigrant wagons, o,:^j,on"em^- 
collect«d in groups at different camps, where the smokes " 
^vere rising lazily from the fires, around which the 
women were occupied in preparing the evening meal, 
and the children playing in the grass ; and herds of cat- 
tle, grazing about in the bottom, had an air of quiet se- 
curity, and civilized comfort, that made a rare sight for 
the traveller in such a remote wilderness. 

" In common with all the emigration, they had been 
reposing for several days in this delightful valley, in 
order to recruit their animals on its luxuriant pasturage 
after their long journey, and prepare them for the hard 
trail along the comparatively sterile banks of the Upper 
Columbia." 

We make the last quotation to show that American 
emigrants were in considerable numbers now, 1843, tra- 
velling over land to Oregon. Fremont has, as yet, found 
none bound for California, except a Mr. Chiles, his fa- 
mily and his laborers, who are going from Missouri to 
settle in the valley of the Sacramento. He is carrying 
the parts of a mill which he means to set up on that 
stream. We wish partcularly to call attention to the 
fact of the rapid improvement in the geographical know- 
ledge of these regions, by showing how little they were 
known in 1843. 

On the 25th Capt. Fremont was at Bear Springs, August 25. 
whose character is not unlike those of the Boiling 
Springs at the Arkansas. Wandering among the moun- 

7 



146 THE SALT -LAKE. 

*Q^^' tains in search of the Salt Lake, Fremont and his party 
suffered for want of food. Kit Carson shot off the track, 
went to Fort Hall, and returned with such a scanty 
supply, as the Oregon emigrants had left behind 
them. / 

Sept. 6, On the 6th of September the party had reached a 

at the 

Salt Lake, point, where, says Capt. Fremont, " we beheld at our 
feet the object of our anxious search — the waters of the 
Inland Sea, stretching in still and solitary grandeur far 
beyond the limit of our vision. It was one of the great 
points of the exploration ; and as we looked eagerly over 
the lake in the first emotion of excited pleasure, I am 
Enthusiasm ^oubtful if the followers of Balboa felt more enthusiasm 
"at'th^e^Tst^ when, from the heights of the Andes, they saw for the 

view. 

first time the great western ocean. It was certainly a 
magnificent object, and a noble terminus to this part of 
our expedition ; and to travellers so long shut up among 
mountain ranges, a sudden view over the expanse of silent 
waters had in it something sublime." 

The lake Capt. Fremont and his party explored in a 
small boat and found all superstitious fears to be ground- 
less. The waters of the lake a mile from the shore were 
saturated with common salt.* On the islands were in- 



* Fourteen pints of fine grained salt were obtained by the party 
from five gallons of the water. Fremont heard of immense beds of 
rock salt in the vicinity. Truly, Mr. Jefferson's " Salt Mountain," 
for which in 1803 he was so much ridiculed, has come to light at 
last. 



FORT HALL. 147 

crustations of salt to a considerable thickness. But we 1^*'^* 

must leave minute descriptions to the geographer, and 
trace the progress of discovery and emigration. 



On the 19th Capt. Fremont was at Fort Hall, where J,';,^*'^/}^" 



Sept. 19, 
il 
lU 

his whole party were reunited. 

Here he met Mr. Chiles and his company of whom 
he had before heard, as American emigrants going 
to California. Mr. Chiles divided his party at this 
point ; the largest division, taking the wagons, with mill- 
saws, &c., were to travel under the conduct of Mr. 
Joseph Walker, of Missouri ; and a long route lay before 
them, along the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada, to its Mr. chiies 

and his com- 

southern extremity, and thence through '' Walker's ^^"^J^or 
pass," (that intrepid traveller having discovered it,) into 
the valley of the San Joaquin. Thence they were to go 
north to the place of their destination on the Sacramento. 
This tedious journey they performed ; but we afterwards 
learn, that before they finally reached the valley of the 
Sacramento, they suffered much, and lost their wagons 
and mill-irons. Mr. Chiles himself followed the stream 
called Lewis's Fork, or Snake River, to the mouth of its 
affluent, Matthew River ; then following that stream to its 
source, he found his way over the Sierra into the valley 
of the Sacramento. His people were among those few 
American settlers of the Sacramento, who under Fremont 
made in July, 1846, the " Bear revolution." 

From Fort H^all Capt. Fremont followed the course 
of Snake River to Fort Boise ; then crossing the Blue ^Ju^iftrinT 
Mountains, (their height 5000 feet,) he came upon the 



148 THE DAL4ES. 

1843. waters of the Walahwalah. Here he found Dr. Whit- 
man, the first American whom he had met, who had a 
house, a farm, and a family. From the mouth of iho 
Walahwalah, the party proceeded to the Dalles or walls 
at Uirbt'iies °^ ^^^^ Columbia, where, as the river cleaves those basal- 
Coiumbia. tic rocks, its whole breadth is compressed into fifty 
yards. At this point Capt. Fremont found a Methodist 
mission, whose buildings consisted of two adobe dwelling- 
houses and a large school-house. From the Dalles, Fre- 
mont with a few of his men embarked and had a pleasant 
sail to Vancouver, then a mud-built British trading-house. 

Nov. 10, His orders to connect his surveys with those of the Ex- 
leaves Van- 
couver, ploring Expedition under Capt. Wilkes being now exe- 
cuted, he returned to his main camp at the Dalles ; and 
immediately began his long homeward route by Cali- 
fornia. 

On the 10th of December he explored the Hamath 

Dec. 10, 

the Hamath Lake, Called also, as is its river, Klamet. The lake was. 

Lake. 

at this season, when no melting snows sent waters from the 
mountains, only " an extensive meadow or lake of grass," 
with a river running through it, and occasional pools. 
The Indians in this vicinity were said to be uncommonly 
treacherous and cruel. The state of geographical know- 
ledge respecting California will appear from the following 
extract of Fremont's journal. 

" From this lake our course was intended to be about 
southeast, to a reported lake called Mary's, at some days' 
journey in the Great Basin ; and thence, still on south- 
east, to the reputed Buenaventura River, which has had a 



Fremont's 

imaginary 

route. 



THE IMAGINARY BUENAVENTURA. 149 

place in so many maps, and countenanced the belief of 1843. 
the existence of a great river flowing from the Rocky efne!^r\o 

T4/r • 1 T-» ^ r>i -T-i • -n 1 fi'"i the great 

Mountains to the Bay oi fean r rancisco. rrom the Buenaven- 
tura. 
Buenaventura the next point was intended to be in that 

section of the Rocky Mountains which includes the heads 
of Arkansas River, and of the opposite waters of the 
Californian Gulf; and thence down the Arkansas to 
Bent's Fort and home. This was our projected line of 
return — a great part of it absolutely new to geographical, 
botanical, and geological science — and the subject of re- 
ports in relation to lakes, rivers, deserts, and savages 
hardly above the condition of mere wild animals, which 
inflamed desire to know what this terra incognita valley 
contained. It was a serious enterprise, at the com- 
mencement of winter, to undertake the traverse of such 
a region." 

We thus see what was at this time the state of geo- 
graphy in relation to California, and how much that 
science is indebted to Fremont's surveys. From the vi- 
cinity of Lake Hamath, where rise three rivers running 
diversely — the Sacramento, the Klamet, and the Fall- 
River branch of the Columbia — Capt. Fremont took, as 
he proposed, a southeast course. But misled by the ima- 
ginary maps of the country, he was constantly expecting 
to fall upon the waters of a great river, flowing from the He is misled 

T-.1TH- • i/-Ni/>/-oi -n • i^y '^^'^^ ideas 

Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of ban Jb rancisco; and and crosses to 

the eastern 

keeping what he conceived the proper course for this ^'''1^°/^^''^ 
object, he was led a long and dreary way across the 
Sierra Nevada. On his descending upon the eastern 



150 DISCOVERIES. 

l^'l-4, side, he discovered lakes, to which he gave the names of 

the^Prylmid Summer and Alert. He was now on the wintry side of 

the Sierra ; and the commencement of the year 1844 

found him and his men in a forlorn condition, but still 

seeking the imaginary great river. On the 10th of 

January they discover the Pyramid Lake. Finding here 

the inlet of a considerable stream, which they named 

Salmon Trout River, and which rose in the mountains on 

their right, they became satisfied that the direction of 

the water-courses was incompatible with the existence 

of the supposed Buenaventura. Their provisions were 

The conse- exhausted, their garments tattered, their animals jaded, 

^^deEn" and they must recross the Sierra Nevada, or perish in 

the inhospitable desert. 

They found a tribe of the natives of apparently more 
than ordinary sagacity. *' We explained to the Indians," 
says Fremont, " that we were endeavoring to find a pas- 
sage across the mountains into the country of the whites, 
whom we were going to see ; and told them that we 
wished them to bring us a guide, to whom we would give 
presents of scarlet cloth, and other articles, which were 
shown to them. They looked at the reward we offered, 
and conferred with each other, but pointed to the snow 
on the mountains, and drew their hands across their 



count of the necks, and raised them above their heads to show the 

crossing oi the ' 



Indian ac- 
unt of 
isingof 

depth ; and signified that it was impossible to get 
through. They made signs that w^e must go to the 
southward, over a pass through a lower range, which 
they pointed out ; there, they said, at the end of one 



FIRST EXPLORERS. 151 

day's travel, we would find people who lived near a pass *^^'^^' 

in the great mountain ; and to that point they agreed to 

furnish us a guide. They appeared to have a confused 

idea, from report, of whites who lived on the other side 

of the mountain ; and once, they told us, about two years 

ago, ,a party of twelve men like ourselves had ascended 

their river, and crossed to the other waters. They 

pointed out to us where they had crossed ; but then, they 

said, it was summer time ; but now it was impossible. 

I believe that this was a party led by Mr. Chiles,f one of former year. 

the only two men whom I know to have passed through ^^^.j^^ ^^^ 

the California mountains from the interior of the Basin — oniy^ pfJueer! 

before Fre- 

Walker being the other ; and both were engaged up- n>ont. 
wards of twenty days, in the summer time, in getting 
over. Chiles' destination was the Bay of San Francisco, 
to which he descended by the Stanislaus River ; and 
Walker subsequently informed me that, like myself, de- 
scending to the southward on a more eastern line, day 
after day he was searching for the Buenaventura, think- 
ing that he had found it with every new stream, until like 
me, he abandoned all idea of its existence, and turning 
abruptly to the right, crossed the great chain. These 
were both western men, animated with the spirit of 
exploratory enterprise which characterizes that peo- 
ple." 

We introduce this extract, not only to manifest how 
entirely in the dark the best informed, such as Fremont 
himself, were at that period respecting California, but 
also to show that overland emigration had then madp r\ry 



152 ALPINE REftlONS, 

^^^^' progress. The great breadth and formidable nature of 

the chain of the Sierra Nevada* is made apparent from 

the ignorance of the Indians of what was beyond^ and from 

the length of time employed in crossing it. It was the 

leaVefpyra- 16th of January when Fremont left tiie Pyramid Lake, 

mid Lake. 

to follow up into the mountains its affluent, the Salmon 
Trout River ; and it was not until the 6th of March that he 
struck the waters of the Sacramento. The hardships 
endured during the many days, which occupied these 
resolute, uncomplaining men, to cross these Alpine re- 
gions, were all that they could endure. Indeed, one 
died and two became insane. Had there been women 

E:ttreme 

E'iTcn^fn^a and children of their number, a great proportion must 

tae Sierra. , • i i 

have perished. 

Capt. Fremont, in descending the mountains, fortu- 
nately came upon a stream which he was told was the 
River of Americans, and never did the name sound more 
grateful to an American ear. Its waters led his famished 
approach company to Suter's Fort, the spot of all others in the valley 

Sute/'s Fort. 

where they might expect to find the hospitable relief of 
good and wholesome food ; which they who had been sub- 
sisting on the flesh of dogs, and of lean and starved mules, 
would well know how to appreciate. They came up to 
the Fort, weak and emaciated, each man leading a horse 
or mule as weak and emaciated as himself, unable to 



* On the new map of Fremont's explorations, made by Mr. 
Preuss, these mountains are laid down opposite the Pyramid Lake, 
as not less than seventy or eighty mdes in breadth. 



GOLD AND HUNGER. 153 

bear the weight of a rider. They had been obliged to _J^*'*' 
leave the howitzer ; half their animals had perished in 
the mountains ; their mules falling with their loads, down 

Fremont loseg 

frightful precipices, into eulfs below. Thus were lost Ws botanical 

" ^ ' ^ specimens. 

their botanical specimens, and other articles, which 
could not be replaced. 

The Fork of the American where they passed, was 
the same, along which the gold placers were first discov- 
ered. How little did these sufferers, as they passed, 
wayworn and hungry, over the desolate wilderness, 
know that they were treading on gold ; and how little 
would it have availed to their necessities, if they had 
at that time, not only known its existence, but possessed The hun^ 

tread on gold. 

it ; — and how little did their leader suppose that ere five 
years should pass, a thronging multitude, not only of his 
countrymen, but from every part of the earth, would be 
there ; and he mark the wonderful spot upon his map, as 
El Dorado, or the Region of Gold ! 



1844. 



Capt. Suter. 



CHAPTER V. 

Fremont in California — At Suter's Fort and in the valley of the 
San Joaquin. 

Capt. Suter received the famished party with his 
wonted generous hospitality, gratuitously supplying their 
immediate necessities. He is by birth a Swiss, and was 
a lieutenant of the Swiss guards of Charles X, the last 
of the Bourbons. He continued so during the Revolu- 
tion of the "three days " in 1830. While the aged 
exiled monarch fled, and went to reside in old Holyrood, 
in Edinburgh, John A, Suter emigrated to America, 
and settled in Missouri. From that State in 1838-9 he 
removed ; and settled in his present location, near the 
confluence of the Rio de los Americanos with the Sacra- 
mento. 

He owned the Fort and a princely estate adjoining, 
the title to which he had obtained from the Mexican 

His eminent 

position, government.* Himself and his position are now full in 

* We find it stated by McCuUoch and others, that the Califor- 
nians had cast off the Mexican authority, and made themselves 
independent. But we see from this, and similar cases, that land- 



suter's fort. 155 

the eye of public observation. It was by his agent and ^^'t^* 
on his property that the gold, which is attracting such 
vast numbers to California, was first found ; and the 
governor of California was by the latest advices, making 
Suter's Fort his head-quarters. The fort is built upon a 
pond-like stream communicating with tlie American River 
about two miles above an entrance into the Sacramento ; 
and is a quadrangular adobe structure about five hundred 
feet in length and a hundred and fifty in breadth. At 
this time it was garrisoned by forty Indians, whom Capt. 
Suter at first, according to Fremont, found troublesome 
and dangerous, but by prudent management and well- 
timed discipline,* he had reduced them to order and 
obedience. 

title from Mexico was alone considered good. If California did not 
belong to Mexico, why should our republic take it as a Mexican 
province 1 and why should it be universally conceded, that a cession 
from the Mexican Republic is valid title to the American 1 

* Capt. Wilkes gives us further information concerning this dis- 
cipline. It was severe to an extent that negro slavery in the United 
States by no means admits. But we know too little of what that 
necessity consisted in, to offer any condemnation. The inherent dif- ^ , 

Inherent 

ference in different races of human beings, is one of those truths difterenee in 

° different 

which men look away from in theory, but act on in practice. When races, 
philosophy shall have done her part in settling what is truth con- 
cerning the kind and degree of these differences, the world will be 
Itss agitated on some subjects than it is at present. We have not a 
doubt that the Creator's arrangements are all in perfect wisdom, and 
it is for man to find out what they are, and conform to them. In 
order to this, the superior race (that is the race superior in force 



156 

IQ^^* In the Journal of Fremont's first visit at the Fort, he 

says that Capt. Suter, " on application to the chief of a 
village, readily obtained as many (Indian) boys and girls 
as he has any use for. There were at this time a num- 
ber of girls at the Fort in training for a future woollen 
factory, but they were now all busily engaged in water- 
ing the gardens." 

Capt. Suter's agricultural operations are on a great 
1843-4. scale. He sowed, according to Fremont (in 1848), three 
Fanninof ope- hundred faucsas* of wheat, expecting the ordinary yield 

rati(His on a ^ ' r o j j 

great scale. ^^ ^y^^ country, thirty-fivc fold. The price of wheat at 
this time, was two dollars and a half per bushel. In 

1846. 1846, the wheat crop of Capt. Suter, according to Mr. 

Increased, giyant, was about 8000 bushels \ his number of Indian 
laborers, from two to three hundred. In August, 1848, 
when Gov. Mason visited the Fort on his return from the 
gold placers, where many had gone and left their crops 
unharvested, Capt. Suter on the contrary, was carefully 
gathering his wheat. It was estimated at 40,000 bushels, 

and power) must hold the superior place in government. In the 
matter of sex men do it, and sternly maintain their prerogative ; — 
and sometimes while they quarrel with nature, for differences 
of race. But while the men of the white race, ought perhaps to 
maintain the first rank, so far as power is regarded ; they should 
remember that they are exercising it over the children of God, and 
are responsible to him, that they exercise for the good of those who 
are its subjects. 

* The fanega is 140 pounds. Mr. Bryant says that a fanega of 
wheat is rather more than two bushels. 

* 



1848. 



Still 
increasin" 



157 

and bore already the enormous price of nearly thirty-six 1 848. 
dollars per barrel, and was expected soon to fetch 
twenty more. 

The site of New Helvetia laid down upon the maps 
at the junction of the American River with the Sacra- J^ew Heive- 

•' lia. 

mento,' was selected and named by Capt. Suter, from the 
ancient appellation of his native land. But he came an 
emigrant from the United States, being a naturalized 
citizen.* 

We should infer from the followmg expression in 
Fremont's Journal that he was the first emigrant, as he 1844:. 
is certainly up to this period the most eminent. " Since proffly^Se' 

7. .7 77 ••n» . fi''*'' emigrant 

his arrival, several other persons, prmcipally Americans, from the u.s. 

in that region. 

have established themselves in the valley," We hear 
of none who were there before him, except a few hunters. 
Mr. Sinclair, a highly respectable emigrant, was in 1844 
settled about two miles from the Fort on the American 
River, and Mr. Chiles was again met by Fremont at the Mr. Chiies 

near Suter's 

Fort, being temporarily located on a farm near the Sacra- Fort, 
mento, until he could select land for a permanent resi- 
dence, for which he had secured a grant from the Mexi- 
can government. 

On the 22d of March, Capt. Fremont took his de- March 22, 

Fremont 

parture with an ample outnt of provisions, animals, &;c., leaves Suter's 
furnished him at the Fort. To avoid crossing the Sierra, 



* We hope, as a farther element of Californian history, that we 
may ere long receive from some source, a complete list of the first 
American emigrants in the valley of the Sacramento. 



158 SPRING m THE JTALLEY. 

1844. he ranged southeasterly along its base through the beau- 
tiful and balmy valley of the San Joaquin, where life 
itself was enjoyment. Here the party travelled five 
^ . . , hundred miles, luxuriatino^ in the loveliness of nature, 

Spring m the " 

San^JoaU'in! ^^^^ ^ho delights of Spring. Fresh streams were welling 
from the dissolving snows of the mountains ; green carpets 
of tender grass were beneath ; bright and harmonious 
birds nestled in the branches of the trees, or amidst the 
splendid array of wild flowers, which sometimes seemed 
as if arranged in grand natural bouquets, rising to the 
height of the horseman's head, and stretching to the ex- 
tent of a New England garden. 

But on that whole way, not one civilized human being 
was found, who had as yet made his dwelling in the 
charming valley. The nearest approach to this was 
when, on the 13th of April, the day before they began 
crossing the mountains, a single Christian Indian, habited 
in the Spanish costume, much to their satisfaction, rode 

into their camp and accosted them in the Spanish Ian- 
Fremont's 

party in the gUagC. 
Great Basin. 

This Indian, Fremont took for a guide, as he travelled 
through Walker's Pass into the Great Basin. The com- 
pany then moved south westwardly, leaving the Sierra on 
their right, until they reached the Spanish trail from Los 
Angeles to Santa Fe. This was followed until it turned to 
the southeast. Their course was northeast, and led them 
along the base of the Wahsatch Mountains to the Utah 
Lake ; and thence, across the Rocky Mountains, to the 
head-waters of the Arkansas. 



QUALITIES OF A COMMANDER. 159 

These explorations form a constituent part of the his- ^Q^^* 
tory of Upper California; and the great ability mani- 
fested by the leader, in bold and daring action, fertility 
of resource, and capacity of endurance, amidst fatigue 
and long-continued privation, — power of attaching to his 
person by watchful care and kindness those whom he 



led ; — these qualities and others, marked him as a man in sent out agam 



Fremont 
Qt out age 
in 1845. 

whom the American administration might well place 
great confidence. In the spirit of such a confidence, he 
was sent again, the succeeding year, to California ; and 
history can do no other, than to make him the hero of 
the American possession of that important country. 



1841, 



CHAPTER VI. 

Visit to Upper California of Capt. Wilkes, Commander of the Ex- 
ploring Expedition, 1841 — The Californian Revolution of 
1836, &c. 

The United States Exploring Expedition under Capt. 
Wilkes, made, from the middle of August to the last of 

Wilkes and _, „ . , » 

Fremont sur- September, 1841, a survey of the maritime parts ol 

veyed difter- 

v^^ei^c%°^ Upper California ; especially the Bay of San Francisco 
and its vicinity, — parts of the country which Capt. Fre- 
mont did not visit in his first explorations. The publica- 
tion of Capt. Wilkes' researches did not, however, occur 
until after Capt. Fremont's first and second expeditions, 
and he was not availed of any geographical knowledge 
thus elicited. From the short time employed by Capt. 
Wilkes in his personal survey of California, hearsay 
necessarily mingled with observation in his accounts : 
and we find in them some errors, with much that is 
correct and valuable.* It is, however, in most cases, 

* Take for example the following passage : " The best route to 
the United States is to follow the San Joaquin for sixty miles, thence 
easterly, through a gap in the Snowy Mountains, by a good beaten 



BAY OF SAN FRANCISCO. 161 

easy to distinguish wliat is drawn from others, from 1841. 
that which is reliable information, drawn from actual 
survey. 

Whan the Commander of the Exploring Squadron 
entered, August 14th, the Bay of San Francisco, the August i4 

]• • i. J 1 • 1 • • V i Capt. Wilkes 

country disappomted hnn ; havmg an unmvitmg aspect enters the 

Bay of San 

on account of the uncommon drought, which, in 1841, Francisco, 
prevailed in Upper California. There had been no rain 
during a year. But the vineyards had produced abun- 
dantly ; and wherever irrigation had been practised, the 
earth had yielded a large increase. Capt. Wilkes bears 
his testimony to the superior excellence of this great 
harbor. " Upper California," he says, " may boast of 

road ; thence the course is northeasterly to Mary's River, which 

flows southeast and has no outlet, but loses itself in a lake ; thence 

continuing in the same direction, the Portneuf River, in the Upper 

Shoshone, is reached ; and thence to Fort Hall. According to Dr. 

Marsh, (an American of much intelligence, resident at the mouth Incorrect 

reports made 

of the San Joaquin, to whom we are indebted for much information 1^^^^^" 
of the country,) there is plenty of fresh water and pasturage all the 
way, and no proper desert between the California Range and the 
Colorado." Vol. v. p. 181. 

From this may be seen the incorrect notions which then pre- 
vailed of the Great Basin, with its deserts, and of the formidable 
Sierra Nevada. The course of Humboldt's, or Mary's River, is 
made southeast instead of southwest — it is incorrectly stated that 
there is no desert ; and as to Portneuf River in the Upper Shoshone, 
according to Fremont's map, the Upper Shoshone is far from the 
river, and off the route to Fort Hall, and the river itself is but a 
small stream to be crossed just before arriving at that place. 



162 VERBA BUINA. 

1841. one of the finest, i^ not the very best harbor in the 
orHie'^haX^ world — that of San Francisco. Few are more exten- 
cisco. sive, or could be as readily defended ; while the com- 

bined fleets of all the naval powers of Europe might 
moor in it." He says, however, that " this is the only 
really good harbor which the country possesses ; for the 
others so called, may be frequented only during the fine 
season, being nothing more than roadsteads, affording 
little safety and but few supplies to vessels." 

The progress of immigration, especially the Ameri- 
can, may be traced by the growth of San 'Francisco. 
The most frequented anchorage of the bay called Yerba 
San Fran- Bueua is thus described by Capt. Wilkes : " The town 
■ is not calculated to produce a favorable impression on a 
Stranger. Its b'uildii>gs may be counted, and consist of 
a large frame building, occupied by the agent of the 
Hudson Bay Company ; a store, kept by Mr. Spears, an 
American ; a billiard-room and bar ; a cabin of a ship, 
occupied as a dwelling by Capt. Hinckley ; a black- 
smith's shop, and some outbuildings. These, though 
few in number, are also far between. With these, I 
must not forget to enumerate an old dilapidated adobe 
building, which has a conspicuous position on the top of 
the hill overlooking the anchorage." 

This was in 1841. When Mr. Edwin Bryant first 
visited this place in September, 1846, he found it con- 
taining 200 inhabitants. But when he left it the suc- 
„. »a ceedinw sprinoj, the number had increased to 1500. 

Size of San o r o' 

This was before the gold mania had commenced. Re- 



RAPID GROWTH. 163 

cent advices state that at the close of the year 1848, *Q^1* 
there were already 15,000 inhabitants. San Francisco Francllln" 

1846 and in 

will therefore probably increase faster than any city ot i848. 
our fast-growing republic has ever done.* 

Of all the men found by Capt. Wilkes' party in Cali- 
fornia, Capt. Suter is made, in his report, the most pro- 
minent. His grant from Mexico, Capt. Wilkes states, 
to be conditional, and for thirty leagues square. Besides capt. Suter's 

eminence and 

this, which is of itself a principality, he had bought out wealth, 
the Russians, whose principal stations were Fort Ross 
and Bodega, on the coast of the Pacific, northwest of the 
Bay of San Francisco. It was with the guns from Fort 
Ross, that Capt. Suter garnished his own fort. 

In the vicinity of the Bay, the next most prominent TheVaiiejo 

family. 

persons for business and political consequence were the 
two brothers Vallejo, of Sonoma. 

Capt. Wilkes says of Capt. Suter, that he holds, by 
appointment of the government, the office of adminis- 
trator, " and has, according to his own belief, supreme ^p^'^wefolTr' 

. • • J ^'^^ Indians. 

power in his own district ; condemning, acquitting, and 
punishing, as well as marrying and burying those who 
are under him." 



* Yet will it not be a healthy growth, unless the immigrants take ^j^yj^g^g ^^19 
sober, earnest thought, and resolute action ; to suppress vice and dis- "n^'grants. 
order, and to uphold law, morals, and religion. They must in these 
things be intrepid and resolute. But we hope they will also be true 
to the Union. Great disasters would follow in the long run, if they 
were not. Foreign influences are, in this respect, to be guarded 
against. 



164 SONOMA. 

^Q ^'* " Although Capt. Suter is, in general, in the habit of 

treating the Indians with kindness, yet he related to one 

caused to be gentleman, instances in which he had been obliged to 

sliot. 

fiisilade nine of them ; indeed, he does not seem to stand 
upon much ceremony with those who oppose him in any 
way."* 

Capt. Wilkes shows us what was, at this time, the 
meagre condition of Sonoma, a place which will here- 
after be of much consequence, and which has already 
become celebrated, in the annals of American California, 
as the spot where the Bear flag was first raised. " On 
the opposite side," says Capt. Wilkes, " of the Bay of 
San Pablo, (the northern portion of the Bay of San Fran- 
cisco,) or to the west, are some of the finest tracts of 
countriT in California. One of these is that of Sonoma. 
In Sonoma is situated, in the town of the same name, the 
condTtion olf residence of General Vallejo, and the mission of San 

Sonoma. 

Rafael. Upon paper, Sonoma is a large city, and laid 

* Of Capt. Suter's farming, Capt. Wilkes says, he " has com- 
menced extensive operations in farming ; but in the year of our 
visit, the drought had affected him, as well as others, and ruined all 
his crops. About forty Indians were at work for him, whom he had 
taught to make adobes. The agreement for their service is usually 
made with their chiefs, and in this way, as many as are wanted are 
readily obtained. These chiefs have far more authority over their 
tribes than those we had seen to the north ; and in the opinion of 
an intelligent American, they have more power over, and are more 
respected by their tribes, than those of any other North American 
Indians." 



GENERAL VALLEJO. Ii5 

out accorcliiig to the most approved plan. In reality, ^Q^^* 
however, it consists of only the following buildings : 
General Vallejo's house, built of adobes, of two stories, 
which fronts on the public square, and is said to be one 
of the best houses in California. On the right of this is 
the residence of the general's brother, Salvadore, and to 
the left, the barracks for the accommodation of the guard 
for the general, consisting of about twenty fusileers. Mission- 
Not far removed is the old dilapidated mission-house of dated. 
San Francisco Solano, scarcely tenantable, though a 
small part of it is inhabited still by the Padre Kihas, 
who continues, notwithstanding the poverty of his mis- 
sion, to entertain the stranger, and show him all the hos- 
pitality he can." 

Besides the buildings just enumerated, there were 
in the course of construction, in 1841, a neat little 
chapel, and a small building for a billiard-room. There 
are also three or four more houses and huts which are 
tenanted. 

" General Vallejo," the Captain further says, " was 
one of those who figured in the revolution of 1836, Gen. Vaiiejo 

com II andant. 

and was then appointed Commandant-General of Alta 
California. He is now the owner of a large estate, and 
having chosen this part of the country for his residence, 
he is free from the opposition and broils that are contin- 
ually growing out of the petty concerns of the custom- 
house and its duties. He is not over-scrupulous in de- 
manding duties of the vessels entering the port of San 
Francisco, and until he has been seen and consulted, a 



166 A TERRIIiORY. 

^^^^' vessel trading here is liable to an indefinite amount of 



duties. 

" I have already spoken of the unceremonious man- 
ner in which Capt. Suter officiated as administrator of 
the district to the east of the Sacramento. The anec- 
dotes related to me of Vallejo, in like manner, show a 
striking disregard for the lives, as well as for the pro- 
perty and liberty of the Indians and gente de razon. He 
is supreme, and acts with the same impunity as all his 
predecessors, with one or two exceptions, have done 
before him. As an instance of the lawless acts of the 
governors, it is said that one of them entertained the idea 
of training the Indians as soldiers, and a company of 
them had been brought together, drilled, and made such 
proficiency in the use of their arms, that his excellencv 

Great disre- r ./ 

nmn'^d-hts^n becamc alarmed, and forthwith ordered them all to be 
'^Tndians. shot ! 7 liavc little douht that this story may he essentially 
true, for the value of an Indian's Ife, in the eye of the 
rulers, scarcely exceeds that of one of the wild cattle. 
The Commandant-General {Vallejo) is frequently said to 
hunt them, and by his prowess in these eocpeditio7is he has 
gained some reputation.'' 

Concerning the affair of 1836, which has been dig- 
nified with the name of a revolution, it had its origin 
from the condition into which the country fell after tha 
second Mexican revolution, which produced the federal 



1824. 



a Mexican republic, and the constitution of 1824. California not 
"^'^''^' being found at that time sufficiently populous to con- 
stitute a state, was erected into a territory ; and territorial 



THE BIISSIONS ABANDONED. 167 

officers were sent from Mexico. The a^red spiritual 1^34 
fathers who, as heads of the missions, had, with the mili- ^^ •*^* 
tary under their control, governed the country and kept 
the Indians in order, were either driven from the mis- 
sions by the course pursued by Mexican officers placed pathei^Ifriv- 
over them ; or they voluntarily abandoned their charge, ^Vit^ons.^" 
rather than take the oath of allegiance to the new gov- 
ernment. The property which had belonged to them, 
was taken into possession by the Mexican " adminis- 
tradores,^^ and often dissipated. The buildings and 
gardens went to decay ; and often the Indians — no longer 
allowed to feel that there was a hand to feed them, though 
poorly, from the common store which their labor had 
helped to accumulate — grew wild and ferocious. The indians^^row 

wild. 

lives and property of the whites became insecure from 
this cause, as well as from the universal prostration of 
all law and order. The Mexican authorities wished to 
renew the reign of the padres, and sent other priests ; but 
they were, in so many cases, rapacious and dissolute, 
that their coming only made worse, what was bad 
before. 

The best of the Mexican governors was Gen. Figuera. 
By his influence Mexico sent 200 laborers and agricul- 
turists, who landed at Monterey. They proved bad 
inhabitants, and jealousies sprung up between Mexicans 
and Californians. The governor died in 1835, and his 
death was* the signal for revolutionary movements ; in 
which foreigners, who, from different countries, had 
settled there, took a part. " Among them," says Capt. 



1835. 



Revolution- 
ary move- 



168 TWENTY-FIVE AMERICAN HUNTERS. 

1835-6. Wilkes, " were to be found Americans, who had led the 
lives of hunters and trappers, some of whom had been living 
in the Rocky Mountains, some on the Columbia River, 

t No emi- . . 

grants direct while othcrs Came fro??i Mexico.j These restless spirits 

from the U. J \ r 

states. declared that California ought to be a free state, and they 

encouraged rebellion against the governor, Gutierez. 
This party took advantage of a dispute between him and 
Alvarado, inspector of customs, and a popular man. 
Alvarado thus became the nominal head of the party, 

Ca'ifornians /-, i r^ • i 

threaten to which declared the intention of making California mde- 

make them- 

Jndent'.''^' pcudcnt, baulshing all Mexicans, and adopting as citi- 
zens all foreigners then under arms. This armed party 
drew on their unwilling leader to attack Gutierez at 
Monterey. " Who they were," says Capt. Wilkes, " is 
not well known, but the presumption is that various citi- 
1836. zens of the United States as well as of England, advised 

Thf revS'ters ^"<^ g^^^ ^^^^ (Alvarado) promises of aid. On the 2d 
on erey. ^^ November, he arrived with his force at Monterey ; it 
consisted of perhaps two hundred, (some say half that 
number,) of whom twenty -jice were American hunters, the 
only part of his force which teas efficient . Gutierez 
shut himself up with sixty soldiers in the Presidio of 
Monterey, fearing, it is supposed, the far-dreaded rifles 
of the Americans. The insurgents obtained ammunition 
in the harbor from American vessels, which seemed to 
Nov 4. favor their enterprise. On the 4th, they sent Gutierez 

At the Presi- ^ ' -^ 

a summons to surrender. While he was long; consultins: 
with his officers concerning the ceremonial, not doubtinaj 
it seems, that the thing itself was to be done, an eighteen- 



REVOLUTION OF '36. |$f 

pound ball — the only shot fired in the revolution — struck ^^3G 
the roof of the Presidio. The noise was astounding. Thismi"ht 
though no one was injured ; and it was immediately fol- mory.^ii'e 

called the 

lowed by a flag of truce, and an unconditional surrender, "w^^"" 

The Mexican flag was then hauled down ; but when it 

came to the point of hoisting an independent one, the 

heart of Alvarado and his Californian brethren failed 

them ; nor could their foreign allies persuade them to 

the measure ; so they cried " Long live free California !" 

and hoisted the Mexican flag again. But they turned 

out the Spanish officers, made Alvarado governor, Gen. A peaceful 

'■ ° conclu>ion lo 

Vallejo commandant-general, and Jose Castro, lieu- Revoiuilou. 
tenant-colonel of the militia. The new government 
satisfied the foreigners by diminishing the duties one-half, 
and made their peace with Mexico by acknowledging 
their allegiance, with the condition that they should 
choose their own rulers. 

But the customs were unproductive, and the duties 
were soon renewed, and other means oppi'essive to for- 
eigners, were used to obtain money. They thus became 
disaffected, and put the authorities in such fear that caHf nnJil! 

to cut otF 

they secretly determined to cut them off — first con- foreisners. 

triving a story of their having secretly conspired, and 

next sending Castro with an armed party of eighteen to 

assassinate Graham, a resolute trapper of Kentucky. 

They barbarously wounded him, cast him into prison, 

and took from him all his goods and estate. Sixty other 

foreigners were taken and cast into prison, but they 

were afterwards released. 

8 



ItU CAPT. WILKES* PROPHECY. 

^^^^* Capt. Wilkes thus speaks concerning the future pros- 

pects of California : " The situation of Upper California 
will cause its separation from Mexico before many years. 
The country between it and Mexico can never be any 
thing but a barren waste, which precludes all inter- 

Capt. Wilkes' coursc except that by sea, always more or less inter- 
prophesies 

tbuof^cd"- i'"P^6^ by the course of the winds, and the unhealthful- 
"Mexico.*" ness of the lower or seaport towns of Mexico. It is very 
probable that this country will become united with Ore- 
184:1 ^°"' ^^^^^ which it will perhaps form a state that is des- 
tined to control the destinies of the Pacific. This future 
state is admirably situated to become a powerful mari- 
time nation, with two of the finest ports in the world — 
that within the straits of Juan de Fuca, and San Fran- 
cisco. These two regions have, in fact, within themselves 
every thing to make them increase, and keep up an in- 
tercourse with the whole of Polynesia, as well as the 
countries of South America on the one side, and China, 
the Philippines, New Holland, and New Zealand, on the 
other. Among the latter, before many years, may be 
Advantages includcd Japan. Such various climates will furnish the 

of the Ameri- 
can posses- materials for a beneficial interchange of products, and an 

sions (in the ^ ^ 

^^^ '^' intercourse that must, in time, become immense ; while 
this western coast, enjoying a climate in many respects 
superior to any in the Pacific, possessed as it must be by 
the Anglo-Norman race, and having none to enter into 
rivalry with it but the indolent inhabitants of warm 
climates, is evidently destined to fill a large space in the 
world's future history." 



1846. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Emigration to California begins in 1846. — Mr. Edwin Bryant finds 
many parties on the road. — The horrible sufferings of the belated 
party. — The Mormons. 

The travels of Mr. Edwin Bryant, in the summer of 
1846, throw additional lia;ht on the progress of the settle- May i. 

^ ^ * Mr. Bryant 

ment of Upper California, particularly as resjards Ameri- ^f*^''®* ,^'- ^^• 

^^ -" r ./ o dependence. 

can emigration. June 23. 

At Ft. Lara- 

The first part of Mr. Bryant's route was that of the mie, 672 m. 
ordinary wagon trail — from the mouth of the Kansas, i^'gouii, 
along that river— -along the Platte — by Fort Laramie — further. "*" 
to the South Pass ; — and thence to Fort Brid^rer. Mr. J'^'y^i^. 

' ° At Fort 

Bryant was bound for California, and here his route ^"^s®"^- 
diverged from that of the emigrants to Oregon. 

It was this year, 1846, that emigration from the 
United States to Upper California commenced in earnest ; 
and that to Oregon, greatly increased. This emigration 
as it respects California, was irrespective of the Ameri- 
can possession of the country ; for the war with Mexico 
was not thought of, when the emigrants began their pre- 
paration j and it was not known — until the rumor of Tay- 



172 MR. BRYANT. 

_J_?1?1_ ^^'"'^ battles on the Rio Grande, reached thorn on their 
journey. The beauty, salubrity, and advantages of the 
country, now beginning to be known, must have attracted 
them to seek it as a home. 

Mr. Bryant finds, this year, large parties of emigrants, 
about equally divided, in regard to their destination, be- 
tween Oregon and California. Most of them travelled 

OnthePia'tte. with wagous drawn by oxen, containing their furniture, 

430 wagons 

of emigrants, their v/ives and children ; — and so had party after party 
fallen into the train, that on the I6i\\ of June, on the 
South Fork of the Platte, the wagons amounted to no less 
than four hundred and thirty. Indeed so lively, social, 
and hospitable were these emigrants, though having 
many hardships to encounter, that it does not seem pos- 
sible, that this is the solitary desert route, so lately 
passed over by Capt. Fremont. 

At Fort Bridger, (a name given to two or three 

trading-huts of logs,) " we determined," says Mr. Bry- 

UJes ant, (i. e. himself and a small party of mounted men,) 

Fort Bridger, 

133 m. from " to uikc the new route via the south end of the great 

Soutii Pass. ® 

Salt Lake. Mr. Hudspeth, (well known as a guide and ex- 
plorer,) who with a small party, on Monday, will start in 
advance of the emigrant companies which intend travel- 
ling by this route, for the purpose of making some further 
explorations, has volunteered to guide us as far as the 
ill foHower Salt Plain — a day's journey west of the Lake. Although 
such was my own determination, I wrote several letters 
to my friends among the emigrant parties in the rear, 
advising them not to take this route, but to keep on the 



A CHEERFUL SCENE. 1^ 

old trail, via Fort Hall. Our situation was different from 1^^4-6. 
theirs. We were mounted on mules, had no families, 
and could afford to hazard experiments, and make explo- 
rations. They could not. Durinir the day, I visited , » 

•^ o J ' ■{• A oorral is 

several of the emigrant corrah.-\ * * * * 'ontriangeT 

Messrs. Curry and Holden left us to-day, having deter- shetter or de- 
fence, 
mined to go to Oregon instead of California. Circles of 

white-tented wagons may now be seen in every direc- 
tion, and the smoke from the camp-fires is curling 
upwards, morning, noon, and evening. An immense 
number of oxen and horses are scattered over the entire 
valley, grazing upon the green grass. Parties of In- 
dians, hunters, and emigrants are galloping to and fro, g'Jant iik^'"'' 
and the scene is one of almost holiday liveliness. It is 
difficult to realize that we are in a wilderness, a thousand 
miles from civilization." 

On the 28th, Lieut. Bryant was at the Great Salt AMhJsSt 
Lake. His party then passed southerly and crossed the from Fort' 

Bridger. 

strait which connects the Salt with tlie Utah Lake. 
They were then, after a day's journey with Mr. Hudspeth, 
to cross without a guide the Great Salt Desert, where for 
seventy-five miles they were to find neither water nor 
food. Such an enterprise it is painful even to con- 

1 -, » 1 1 1 ^ ^ 11 T-» ., AugOst 13. 

template. " About eleven o clock, says Bryant, '' we a great day's 

travel ; 75 

struck a vast white plain, uniformly level, and utterly i^"''es over a 
destitute of vegetation, or any sign that shrub or plant *^"^ '''^^^''" 
had ever existed above its snow-like surface. Pausing 
a few moments to rest our mules, and moisten our mouths 
and throats from the scant supply of beverage in our 



174 THE DEsfeRT. 

1846. powder-keg, we entered upon this appalling field of sullen 
and hoary desolation. It was a scene so entirely new 
to us, so frightfully forbidding, and unearthly in its 
aspects, that all of us, I believe, though impressed with 
its sublimity, felt a slight shudder of apprehension. Our 
mules seemed to sympathize with us in the pervading 
sentiment, and moved forward with reluctance, several 
of them stubbornly setting their faces for a counter- 
march." The party, however, succeeded in making the 
dreaded distance in one day. 
Aug. 9 to 18. Mr. Bryant continued his route along Mary's or 
els 'on Mary's Humboldt's River, and came to the dreary pool called the 

River 275 m. "^ ^ 

g^ ^Q Sink of the River, where the stream entirely disappears in 
tei'rFoTt,^23 the dry calcareous earth. He then crossed the Sierra 

m. from the 

Sink of Ma- Nevada by the Bear River Pass, and reached Suter s 

ry's River. 

Fort by the first of September. 

A history of the first emigrations from the more 
eastern states, would show many instances of great hard- 
ship ; but there is one, which in regard to intensity of 
suffering, stands pre-eminent. 

Emigrants at 

.Ft- B"dg«r "w^e have introduced from Mr. Bryant's Journal, an 

divide to Ore- •' ' 

gon an ^ • accouut of the pleasant and cheerful camp at Fort 
Bridger, 133 miles from the South Pass, and where the 
route to California by the south end of the Salt Lake, leaves 
the wagon trail, to Oregon. A party of these emigrants, 
having sixty or more wagons, were bound to Oregon. 
Most of these finally arrived at their destination, although 

"Snu^ruftb/ ^^®y suffered greatly ; having lost their wagons and 
baggage in the Umqua mountains ; but, men having 



THREE PARTIES. Tf^ 

been sent to their relief from the valley of the Willa- 1846. 
math, their lives were preserved. 

Of this party Mr. Newton of Virginia, whom, with his 
wife, Mr. Bryant met in the beginning of his route, wa? 
murdered by Indians for the spoils of his tent. Mrs. 
Newton escaped. Of the emigrants for California, there 
were eighty wagons, which were to take the new and 
yet untrodden route b)^ the south end of the Salt Lake 
and Humboldt's or Mary's River. This company 
divided. The advance party, known as Mr. Harlan's, caiifomii. 

company di- 

were fortunate in raakinsr their wav speedily through vide Hai- 
the mountain passes near the Salt Lake ; and they reached "salfew ^ 
California, in season to insure a safe crossing of the 
Sierra Nevada. But the rear party, known as that of 
Messrs. Read and Donner, taking a different and more 
difficult route, were detained a month longer, in the j^^^^^ ^^^^ 
vicinity of the Salt Lake ; and did not reach the Sierra ty arrbeLted. 
until the last day of October, when they should have 
been there on the first. The snow fell early, and 
fell deep. Their dangerous plight became known at 
San Francisco ; and the sum of fifteen hundred dollars 
was meritoriously subscribed, to hire men to p;o to their 

-' ' * Generous ef- 

relief. This showed how well the wintry terrors of the ^^Jhem.^'*^ 
Sierra were there understood. Capt. Suter, prompt at 
the call of humanity, sent men and mules at his own cost. 
A little more than half their number, which was eighty- 
one, were thus saved ; but thirty-six perished. One of 
those who escaped, related their sufferings to Mr. Sinclair, 
who gave the narrative to the press. It is one of the 



173 WINTRY TERRORS Of THE SIERRA. 

'^1?1_ •J^^i'kest pages in the book of human misery. They 
Fn-en4tyof hecame lost in the mountains ; and not only men and 

their suffer- „ , , , i -i i 

jn-s, Avomen of mature strength, but aged persons, children, 
and delicate girls, were wandering through snows of eight 
feet deep, without a track to follow, or a guide to lead ; 
and amidst mountain precipices of unknown depth. 
Their wagons can no longer be moved. They press for- 
ward for their lives ; but new mountains rise before them, 
and they are involved, in yet deeper snows. Unsheltered 
by night, and unfed by day — the last morsel gone — 
pinching cold without, and gnawing hunger within, some 
sink and die ; more happy than those who remain : for 
who, in the full possession of his faculties, would not 
choose to die, rather than to eat the frozen body of a dead 
friend ; perhaps a parent, a bosom companion, or a child ! 
What physical agonies must first be endured — what 
mental aberration — what moral oblivion ! Those who 
3f) rut of 81 were met and saved, were in body and mind but the 
wrecks of humanity. Nourishing food and kind care, 
however, in most cases proved restoratives. 

Among the distinguished emigrants to California from 

the United States in 13-16, were Ex-Governor Boggs and 

Coi. Russell. The latter had been a member of the 

„ „ Kentucky and the Missouri le"islatures : and subsequently 

<^ov. Boosts -^ ts y ^ " 

andc^oi.Rus- u^^ited Statcs Marshal for Missouri. When the travel- 
ling emigrants, in June, organized for the preservation of 
order, they chose Col. Russell as tlieir leader. He ar- 
rived at Suter's Fort in September. 

This was also the year of the Mormon emigration. 



THE BIORMONS. 177 

Several thousandsf of this sect of Socialists, left Nauvoo 1&46. 
in Illinois in the spring and summer of 1846.* A bat- saylSuoo 
talion of 400 of the men enlisted into the army, as has Emigration of 

tlie Mormons. 

been related, and followed Gen. Kearny to California 
under command of Col. Cooke ; while the wagons with 
the furniture, women, and children, took the ordinary 
track to the South Pass. The Mormons have now made 
their abode in the pleasant region, south of the Salt Lake. 
We understand that the discoverer of the gold placers, Mr. 
Marshal, is one of their number ; and that they are suc- 
cessful seekers of the precious metal. But they can- 

* The writer was al Nauvoo, in June 1846, when the Mormons 
were just leaving their pleasant abodes, and their pompous temple 

which had been their pride — their leader slain, and themselves held June 9. 

, , r< c ^ ■ 11 1 • Mormons 

m abhorrence, bome oi then- wagons with clean white tops were moving from 

Nauvoo. 
moving off toward the west, and some were halting on the western 

shore of the Mississippi. Bad as their principles are, and as their 
lives, conformably to them, have doubtless been — from my soul, I pit- 
ied them. The week before, at St. Louis, I had inquired concerning 
them, and heard much. Among other things, the commandant of 
Jefferson barracks told me, that he once called on Jo. Smith at his 
own home. He was at first denied ; but Smith learning by the 
movements of this officer that his purpose was not hostile, came 
forth from his concealment, and himself attended him, and did the 
honors of the place ; showing the Temple and his troops, and boast- ^'^'' °^^" °^' 
jug of the military force he could command. In company of this 
gentleman, whose high, discerning character, the deceiver well knew, 
he made no pretence of any thing else, than that he played a game 
for his own aggrandizement ; and was proud that he had played it 
so shrewdly. 



licer to Jo. 
Smith, 



178 NO ESCAPING A BAD NAME. 

'^^Q' not permanently prosper, until they change their princi- 



ples. 

The bad name of the Mormons went before them to 
The bad California. The arrival of the Mormon battalion was 

ra!n> of" the 

Mo mons pre- dreaded, and had the whole company attempted to settle 

ce lea them. r J t 

in the valley of the Franciscan Bay and waters, there is 
good reason to believe, that it would have caused a fresh 
revolt of the Californians.* 



* On the late trial of Col. Fremont, Lieut. Minor of the U. S. 

Navy being on the stand as a witness, this question was put by the 

Court : " You siy that the approach of the Mormons caused a great 

alarm of the Californians in your district ; what was apprehended 

by the Californians ? and why "? " To which Lieut. Minor (of 

course under oath) replied : " Report had preceded them to Califor- 
T-f. Minor's 
tesiir.ony nia, that they were a lawless and abandoned set. * * * * * 

coi.ierning 

tlum. I allude to the whole tribe of Mormons, not to Col. Cooke's com- 
mand. A family that had seceded from that religion, threw them- 
selves on ray protection, and I assigned them their quarters near San 
Diego. When they heard of the approach of the Mormon battalion 
ihey became alarmed, and wished me to put them in greater secu- 
rity ; they wished me to put them on hoard a ship, which I declin- 
ed doing." — .See also Col. EusselVs testimony, pp. 259 — 60, 6L 



CHAPTER Yin. 



Fremont's third Expedition — Movements tending to place California 
under British Protection — Bear Revolution — American Posses- 
sion. 

We have now brought these elements of the history 1845. 
of California, up to the time of the events, which led to 
its occupancy by the American government. 

In the winter of 1845-6, Capt. Fremont with sixty- 

Snmmer of 

two men, ostensibly sent by the Executive of the United if^-*.), Fre- 

' •' '' mont, and liis 

States, with the sole object of peaceful explorations, 'toLu°rto^ 
approached the Pacific valley, by the south end of the 
Sierra Nevada. At this time the Californians, under the 
Mexican flao;, had as their civil i^overnor Don Pio , „. T". 

o' ^ A. Pico, civil 

Pico. He was of the most wealthy and influential fro';m"iiiu!ry' 

/-I TP • rn commaiulaiit. 

family in the southern part of Upper Caliiurnia. i wo 
others of the family were eminent men. Gov. Pico re- 
sided in the government house at Los Angeles. Gen. 
Jos6 Castro, was military commandant, and resided at 
Monterey. 

There Wiis a person of much influence still residing 
in the valley, who appears to have been the agent for 
placing California under the protection of the British. 



Mr. Forbes, 
the Biitish 
vice consul. 



180 SCHEME FOR BRITISH SUFREMACY. 

1816 This was Mr. Forbes, who was there at tlie time of 

Capt. Wilkes' visit, as the factor of a British trading 
company ; but at this period he was vice-consul of the 
British government ; and had become, by means of the 
quicksilver mines, south of the Bay of Francisco, 
possessed of an estate of great value. His political and 
business operations, have manifested him to be an able 
and politic man. 

Proof, direct and circumstantial, exists, that a plan was 

A oiitic ^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^ ^'^^^j ^vl^ich, had it succeeded, would have 
^caiifoinir^ placed California beyond the reach of the United States — 

nnder British 

protection, of which Mr. Forbcs was the main agent.* It contem- 
plated getting — first, a declaration from the Californians 
of Independence from Mexico — and second, a petition from 
a convention of Californians to Great Britain, to be taken 
by her under protection. At the same time, ten thousand 
of Great Britain's Irish subjects, were to have been trans- 
ferred to the valley of the San Joaquin, to own and occupy, 
that most fertile portion of the country. Could Mr. Forbes 
have succeeded in getting up a convention of leading per- 
sons, who would first declare California independent, and 
then vote to place themselves under British protection, 
Great Britain might have controlled the country — and 
that, without nominal offence to Mexico, or any other 
power. The scheme of Irish emigration, was to be 

the San Joa- * " We have had recent evidence," said Mr. Dix in his speech in 

quin to be ta- 
ken with con- the U. S. Senate, March 29, 1848, " of a deliberate design (on the 
sent of Mex- 
ico, part of Great Britain,) to obtain possession of the country (California), 

for the purpose of excluding us." 



RELIGION MADE A TOOL. 181 

wrought with the sanction of Mexico, by appealing to 1845, 
two of her strongest passions — her love to the Roman 
Catholic faith, and her jealousy and hatred of America. 

The agent in this service was a Catholic priest of 
Ireland, by the name of Macnamara. He went to 
Mexico as early as the year 1845, and, about the close 
of that year or the beginning of the next, he made an Macnamara 

revik-s the 

application to the supreme power of Mexico, in which Americans to 

^^ r r ^j^g Mexican 

he stated, that the subject of California was then at- government, 
tracting much public attention, that prompt and efficient 
measures must be adopted, or Mexico would soon lose 
that province, by means of the " usurpations of an anti- 
Catholic and irreligious nation," meaning the United 
States. That for the hinderance of this, and the advan- 
tage of his countrymen, and especially the advancement 
of Catholicism, he asked to be enabled to carry forward 
a project of planting a colony of his countrymen in MLInTmara' 

obtains a pa- 

Upper California. The Mexicans, he said, should lose tent— not per- 

^ ^ fected. 

no time, or otherwise " within a year, California would 
become a part of the American nation ; be inundated by 
cruel invaders, and their Catholic institutions the prey of 
Methodist wolves!" The Mexican government was 
moved, and made a grant to the Irish priest of 3,000 
square leagues, in the rich valley of the San Joaquin.* 
Yet the patent was not to be perfected, until the Governor 
of California should have given it his sanction. 



* His petition also embraced the Bay of San Francisco and the 
important stations of Monterey and Santa Barbara. 



182 A BRITISH FLKET NEAR. 

1816. Mr. Forbes, in the meantiino, had a meeting in April, 

^,^ij 1846, with Gov. Pico, Gen. Castro, Gen. Vallcjo, and 

gets'upaVon- others, vvhere the project was entertained of declaring 

vention. 

Upper California independent of Mexico, and putting the 

country under British protection ; and assurances were 

it is said, ad- here given, that a British naval force would soon appear 

vocated Biit- 

isii protection, xipon the coast. A junta was to meet on the 15th of 

Geu. Vallejo, ^ •' 

tTeT.'states! Junc, to consult, couceming the perfecting of the Mac- 
namara grants, and concert final measures. 

Macnamara, who had resided in the house of a British 
public functionary at Mexico, was taken from that 
country in the Juno, a British sloop of war ;' and in 
June, he was landed at Santa Barbara. There was at 
this time lying at San Bias, a larger British squadron 
than had ever before been sent to the Pacific, commanded 

The British 

^^^''^^^ Sas't ^y ^'^^-' ^c^i^i^'^l Sii' George Seymour, his flag-ship being 

HrJwJod, HO the Collingwood of 80 guns. "I" The Juno, which trans- 
guns ; a Ra- 
zee, <iu; 4 ported Macnamara, was of course a part of this squadron. 

sloops of war, 

^s'tea'mers'' Commodorc Sloat at this time commanded the Ameri- 

superiato Can uaval force in the Pacific, his flag being on board 

theAmerican. 

the Savannah. Early in the season he was lying at 
Mazatlan, with orders to attack California, if he should 
hear of actual war with Mexico, whether officially 
notified or not. 

While Mr. Forbes, the planner of these schemes, 
was thus, with politic shrewdness, operating for the ad- 
vantage of his government, the United States had also a 
faithful agent in California — Mr. Thomas O. Larkin, 
American consul at Monterey — formerly a resident of 



THE GUEKDON. I^ 

Boston. All these plans could not be brewing without his ^ 845. 
having sonne knowledge concerning them.* The pre- 

, , •1111 ^^'■- Larkin, 

sumption is that he communicated what he knew to the American 

consul at 

American sjovernment — that it was too little to authorize Monterey, 

^ probably un- 

any public action on the part of the Executive, but 'Jommunl" 

cates. 

enough to lead to measures, which precipitated the war 
with Mexico. For if the American Executive was to 
have the war to conduct, which Mexico had declared she tive 'probacy 

acts on his or 

would make, if Texas was annexed, he min;ht naturally other inform- 

' ° -^ ation. 

prefer to have it, while there yet remained a guerdon, for 
which to fight ; and, take away California, there was 
nothing else desirable. Capt. Fremont was sent out in 
the spring of 1845. Lieut. Gillespie was sent early in 
November, (his letter of credence being dated November Coincid. 
3,) as a special messenger from Washington, with verbal 
instructions to Fremont, to watch for American interests, 
and counteract foreign intrigues. f 

Gillespie had come through Vera Cruz and Mexico, 

* Mr. Larkin had accnmulated, we understand, a handsome 
fortune in California — both that, and his life might have been the 
sacrifice, had he been known as communicating on these subjects to 
the American government. Yet from the excellent character of 
Mr. Larkin, we cannot doubt that he performed thoroughly his offi- 
cial duties. But his position might have constituted one reason why 
the American Executive should act, where he could not safely com- 
municate. 

t This we learn from Fremont's defence before the court martial, 
and from Col. Benton's speech in the Senate ; but how he was di- 
rected to watch, is not known, except by Fremont's course of 
action. 



ences 
in time. 



184 FREMONT S CORPS. 

1815. via Mazatlan and Monterey, with orders to find Fremont 
wherever he might be. About the time when he would 

Orders were , i i i • i ^ -nr • r^ 

given to naval have Completed his passage through Mexico, Gen. 

officers in ref- 
erence to war Taylor received orders to march to the mouth of the Rio 

in the Spring. •' 

Mr. Bancroft /~i ,„„J^ 

blames Com. VJianOe. 
iSloat, for a . , , . , 

too conscien- We now rotum to Lapt. rremont, with his resolute 

tious inaetivi- 

^y- corps — not of enlisted soldiers, but made up of " Kit Car- 
Character of son," and such as he; men who with hardihood and 

Fremont's 

corps. electric activity, were ready at their leader s word to 
dare or to do.* — He had in his equipment 200 horses. 
Having crossed the Sierra, Capt. Fremont, in order to 
avoid any suspicion of hostility, left his camp at 200 
miles' distance from Monterey. He then proceeded 



* Capt. Fremont's force appears to have been as large, as could 
be ventured under the cognomen of an exploring expedition ; and 
particular pains were taken on the one hand not to give it a military- 
name or aspect, and on the other, to give it real efficient strength. 
Sixty such men, with a leader like Fremont — a number of the 
inhabitants being known to be favorable — might well be supposed 
capable of action ; when according to recent reports of Capi. Wilkes, 
twenty-five American hunters, without a leader, constituted the effi- 
ciency of the insurgent force in the one-gun revolution, in 1S3G. 

Gen Kearny, at his camp near New Helvetia, June 14, 1847, 
wrote the following in reply to a note from Col. Fremont : 



184T. 



June 14 r, m, . 1 • • • f 

Gen. Kearny " SiR — The request contained m your communication to me ot 

speaks of the 

topographical this date, to be relieved from all connection with the topographical 

party as con- 
taining nine- party (nineteen men), and be permitted to return to the United States 
leen men. 

with a small party made up by your private means, cannot be 

granted." If nineteen men constituted the topographical party, why 

were forty others sent ? 



THE hawk's peak. 185 

almost alone to Sutcr's Fort, which was the nearest njli- 1846. 
tary station. Here he obtained from Capt. Suter a pass- 
port to Monterey, at which place he arrived, Jan. '11, Fremont at 

Monterej-. 

1846, and immediately repaired to Mr. Larkin at the 
American consular-house. The worthy consul accom- 
panying him, he called on Gen. Castro, the military 
commandant ; informed him that he had come to the 
country for peaceful explorations, and desired his permis- 

" * He obtains 

sion to winter in the valley of the San Joaquin. This ^'^stro's per- 

.^ T^ mission to 

permission he received from Gen. Castro ; and from vdw'of'san 

Joaquin. 

the consul, he obtained supplies for his men. Resting 
only two days in Monterey, he returned to his camp. 

On the 3d of March, a sudden change occurred. March 30 

He is ordered 

Orders were sent from Mexico, directing Castro to drive away, 
the Americans out of the country ; and Fremont now 
received a notice from that general to quit California, 
accompanied with such blustering threats, in case of non- 
obedience, as gave to the captain, an expectation of 
immediate attack. This officer then resolved, as Gen. 
Taylor did, when about to move from Point Isabel to his 
camp at the Rio Grande, that if the enemy opposed, in 
whatever force, he should fight him ; and he accordingly 
raised the American flag. His camp, which he now March .5. 

Fremont 

fortified with a breastwork of logs, was pitched on the 



top of the Sierra, at the " Hawk's Peak," near the head 
waters of an afi^luent of the San Joaquin, which crossed 
the road to Monterey — distant sixty miles. With his 
spy-glass he could look from his eagle height, down upon 
the camp of his foe, at the mission of San Juan. Castro 



raises the 
American 
flag, and 
awaits an at- 
tack. 



IQO ]\IR. LARKIN S TETTER. 

^Q^^* approached within four miles, with about 200 men, and 
was seen preparing cannon as if for an assault. But he 
did not attack. If he had, the Mexican war might per- 

Castio ap- 
proaches haps have commenced, not on the Rio Grande, but on the 

within 4 miles * ^ ' 

"Attack. "°^ Sierra Nevada ; and California have belonged to the 
American Republic, some months earlier than it did. 
But said Mr. Larkin, afterwards writing on this subject, 
"^ Castro of himself had no wish to go after Col. Fre- 
mont," although with all the Caiifornians to aid him ; 

(MrLa?kin ^^^' Frcmont " had verbal applications from the English 

sent two mes . .... •, , i i i 

sengers bear- and Americans to jom his party, and he could have mus- 
ing duplicates 

of the same tercd as mauv men (in addition to his own party) as the 

letter. One of j \ \. j / 

these reaches ^^.\„ ?> 

Fremout.) natlVeS. 

A Californian messenger on the 9th carried a letter 
from the judicious consul to Capt. Fremont, at his forti- 
fied camp. Travelling sixty miles in ten hours, the 
messenger carried back a letter from Fremont, in which 
he thus wrote to Mr. Larkin,* (saying that he did so 
before reading his letter.) '■'■ We have in no wise done 
wrong to the people, or the authority of the country, and 
if we are hemmed in and assaulted here, we will die, 
every man of us, under the flag of our country." Con- 
cerning the appearance of Fremont, his camp and his 
men, the Californian messenger on his return to Mon- 
a Calif!?rnian tcrey Said, that " two thousand of his countrymen would 
Fremont "and not be Sufficient to compel him to leave the country, 

his men. 

though his party was so small," 



* See Mr. Larkin's letter to the Secretary of State, Apri) 3, 1846. 



A SPECIAL MESSENGER. 187 

It. was on the 9th that Fremont received Mr. Larkin's ^Q^^« 
letter, of which we know not the contents. But we (|SeeMr. 
know that within a few hoursf notwithstandinof his wil- tertotheSec. 

' ° of State.) 

lingness to die under his country's flag, Capt. Fremont 
broke up his encampment, and went north ; declaring it thesoutrpaS 
to be his object to explore the southern part of Oregon, 
and survey a new route to the Walahmath by the way 
of the Hamath Lakes. He was then within Oregon, 
but on the confines of California ; and the hostility of 
the savages in that vicinity made it a dangerous loca- 
tion. 

On the evening of the 9th of May, two messengers 
found Capt. Fremont at the north end of the Hamath 
Lake, who informed him that an officer of the United 

May 9. 

States army was in search of him with dispatches, and Fremont 

•' ^ hears of Gil- 

that his danger from hostile Indians was imminent. At '^^p'®- 
dawn of day, Fremont took with him nine men, of whom 
Kit Carson was one ; four were of the fine old race of 
Delaware Indians, and one was Basil Lajeunesse, a 
young Frenchman, of whom Fremont speaks, in his 
descriptions, with affectionate reliance. Coasting the 
western shore of Hamath Lake — at night they providen- 
tially met the party whom they were seeking. 

The officer was Lieut. Gillespie, who, as before re- 
marked, was -sent from Washington in November, via 
Vera Cruz, Mexico, Mazatlan, and Monterey, with strict 
orders to find Capt. Fremont, and who had now travelled Gillespie has 

travelled over 

from Monterey 600 miles for that purpose. He bore a 6oo miles to 

^ ^ find !■ remont. 

letter from the Secretary of State, indirectly accrediting 



188 CONFIDENTIAL 'service. 



1816. 



him, leaving the main points of his mission to oral commu- 
nication. Exactly what this mission was, we know not, 
but we know the action which, on the part of Fremont, 
it produced. The administration, not without reason, 
placed confidence in him. In their service, he fearlessly 
took responsibility, and faithfully kept counsel. 

Fremont was excited with hearing from his country 
and from his family, — one of his letters being from Sena- 
tor Benton of Missouri, the father of his wife, — and at 

May 9. 

Fremont's nio;ht, forjrettino; for an hour his ordinary watch, hostile 

camp attack- o ' » i^ j ' 

ders'^cdnunit- Indians stole within the still camp, when all were asleep. 

diaus. A cry from Carson, and Fremont awoke to hear the 

death-groan of his favorite Basil Lajeunesse ; and three 

Indians of his party were killed, before the murderers 

were subdued. 

Capt. Fremont forthwith removed his whole party 
Fremont re- south iuto the Unsettled parts of the Valley of the Sac- 

turnin^ with „ . i r» 

Gillespie, is in rameuto. He encamped tor a tmie at the Buttes, near 

tlie valley of 

the Sacra- ^q coufluence of that stream v/ith the Rio del Plumas. 

jnento. 

Here he learned that the friends of British protection 
had, as was supposed, excited the Indians against the 
American settlers. At any rate this dangerous race had 
assumed a hostile attitude. Gen. Castro had also pub- 
(t We know lished a proclamation requiring foreigners to leave the 

not iiow ma- 
ny, nor who couutrv : and he was, it was believed, collecting an ar- 

were all •' ' ^ 

aSnemafe "^7 ^o cuforce his orders. Women as well as men were 

settlers, but . ^ . iniiir^ 

fancy the task m a state 01 cxcitoment, and all looked to rremont to 

of taking 

down their y.-jj^Q ^^jj}-, x\^^xi^ in their defence. + "There was a good 

names would ' " 

"rrduou'sT deal of correspondence," says Capt. Owens, one of Fre- 



''THE WAY rm: revolution began." 189 

mont's officers, " between the settlers and our camp ; and 184 1 • 
as the danger seemed near at hand, and there was no Letter of 

, I, . . f» 11 1 • • Capt. Owens. 

Other way to get out ot it, it was finally agreed to join showins ti.e 

way tlie revo- 

the settlers and fight the Californians. This is the way "^'^'O" ^^s^^"- 
the revolution began. I do not think the settlers could 
have been united, without tlie aid and protection of Capt. 
Fremont. They had not confidence enough in their 
strength to undertake the war without support. Capt. 
Fremont's party was strong and well armed, and went 
together like one man." Fremont's name too, and his 
position as an American officer, had great influence. 

Fremont now becoming openly the leader of the re- 
volted Americans, he soon moved his camp farther south. 
The first overt act of hostility was on the part of the 
Americans, in seizing a number of horses, which Gen. j^^g j{, 
Castro had ordered to be taken from Sonoma to his camp Gen. Castro's 

horses the first 

at Santa Clara. They were taken round by Suter's Fort, °][fjjjj^j[^ °^ 
when a party of twelve American Californians, mostly 
hunters, Mr. Merritt being their leader, captured them ; 
and sent word to Gen Castro, that if he wanted his prop- 
erty he must come and take it. Mr. Merritt's party in- 
creasing, at length amounted to more than thii'ty. They 
then took Sonoma, making prisoners, the Vallejos, and 
other principal persons. But they violated no private (fwetake 
property. f Don Salvadore Vallejo once having had Mer- fromMr.^B^y- 

ant, who' 

ritt in his power, struck him. Merritt now looked fierce- g'^es. as his 

authority, R 

ly upon Vallejo, but restraining himself, he said, " You ^^iS or t^e 

1 , T -11 M •>> Calilbrnian.) 

are now my prisoner, but 1 will not strike you. 

A small garrison was left at Sonoma, commanded by 



June 14. 
Capture of 
Sonoma. 



190 *' THE BEAR T?EVOLUTION." 

*^ ^^* Mr. Ide, who issued a proclamation, inviting all to come 
to his camp, and aid in forming a Republican government. 
About this time, two American youno- menf were brutally 

(tCowieand J n \ J 

Fowler.) murdered in the neighborhood of Sonoma, and others 
were taken prisoners, by a party of Californians under 
one Padilla. Capt. Ford, with a part of the garrison of 

Mexican Souoma, pursucd Padilla to San Rafael, where he had 

torce, 86 ; 

M™^"ioL"'io' ^^^^ joined by Capt. Torre. An engagement look place 
in which the Americans were victorious, killing eight of 
their opponents. Cap. Fremont having heard that Cas- 
tro was approaching with 200 men, joined the camp at So- 

Fremoiu^t "oma ou the 25th of June. Torre had now gone to the 
south, and no enemy remained on the north side of the 
Bay of Francisco. The Californians at Sonoma and the 
vicinity, seemed well pleased with the American ascen- 
dency, and offered their property to aid in carrying on 
the war. Fremont took a number of horses of the Val- 
lejos and others ; but anxious to fulfil the wishes of the 
government and conciliate the people, he promised that 
payment should be made, for whatever was taken. 

The fourth of July was duly celebrated. On the 5th, 

the Californian Americans declared their independence, 

The •• Bear- and organized the Californian battalion; placing Capt. 

flag" raised. 

Fremont at its head ; and for its standard emblem, they 

raised the figure of that unmanageable native of their 

woods, the grizzly bear. 

Fremont, now at the head of the 160 men who composed 
July 6. ^ 

ler^-^rVrt ^o"r" ^^® Califomian battalion, moved his camp to New Helve- 
ew^^^eve- ^.^^ From this placc hc scnt to San Francisco a dctach- 



THE FIRST NEWSPAPER. - 191 

ment of ten men, commanded by Robert Semple, Esq., 184 i. 

who, in the course of the same summer, iecame the Edi- 

to?' of the Californian, the first neicsimper of the Territo- Sem^ie at 

New Hel- 

ry. The party performed the service, making prisoner ^etia. 
Ridley, the captain of the port, and conveying him for 
safe keeping to Suter's Fort ; of which Capt. Fremont 
had taken possession, placing in command Mr. Kern, one 
of his topographical party.* 

The day after Capt, Fremont's arrival at Suter's Fort, 
as he was preparing to follow Gen. Castro to Santa Cla- 
ra, he received the joyful news that Commodore Sloat had 
raised the American flag on the 7th, at Monterey, and ]v/o"Jferey 
that a state of war existed between the United States and 
Mexico. Instantly all united in pulling down the Cali- 
fornian bear, and raising the American eagle. 

* Whether with or without Capt. Suter's consent, we do not 
learn. He apologized in September to Mr. Bryant that he could 
not invite him to his fort, as he had not the control of his own prop- 
erty. A man with so much at stake might naturally seek to avoid 
collisions with all, and finally be found on the strongest side. We 
should suppose, however, that his preferences were on the side of 
the Americans ; and also, that his shrewd, sagacious mind, would 
not be long in determining, which side would be the strongest. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Events of the War from the raising of the American Flag at Mon- 
terey. — The Californian Battalion. — Fremont's March. — Capitula- 
tion of Cowenga. 

^^ ^^* At San Francisco, Commander Montgomery, having 

been thus directed by Commodore Sloat, raised the Amer- 
Juiy p. 
Montgomery ican flag on the 8th ; and soon after took possession of 

6an Francis- gonoma. 

CO. 

Summoned by Commodore Sloat, Fremont repaired to 
Monterey with the Californian battalion of 160 mounted 
rifles. He, with Lieut. Gillespie, now his second in com- 
mand, went on board the Commodore's ship. He was 
somewhat displeased, that they had not reported to him ; 

JiWy. 

Am. force but suoposed that Fremont had been actinfr under the or- 

in the Paci- ' ^ ^ 

Savannah, ^^^'^ of the government, knowing that Gillespie had been 

Congress, ,, . , 

Portsmouth, scnt out, a spccial messenger to hmn. "1 want, said 

and Cyane. ^ 

at^Ma^auTn" ^^' " ^° kuow by what authority you are acting. Mr. 
^hip ErL!"^at Gillespic has told me nothing. He came to Mazatlan, 

the Sandwich 

Islands.) and I sent him to Monterey, but 1 know nothing. I want 
to know by what authority you are acting ? " When 
Capt. Fremont told him he was acting on his own re- 
sponsibility, the Commodore seemed much disturbed. 



A LITTLE BEFOREHAND. 193 

*' I have acted," said he, " upon the faith of your opera- ^'^^<^* 

lions in the north. I would rather suffer from doing too 

much than too. little. "f Commodore Sloat's orders from (t Yet rom, 

Sloat was 

Mr. Bancroft, Secretary of the Navy, had been peremp- ['^^^"'"'yre'J..^ 
tory, that in case he learned that a state of war existed, 73""n"afc"nt 
he should act at once. He had heard, while lying at vity'in not 



Mazatlan, of warlike movements on the P^io Grande, but ing^-a'ijor.i. 

' ' He had liow- 

1 c , . . ^ . ever left ihe 

was not possessed of certaui miormation. station.) 

The proceedings respecting British protection and 
Irish emigration, had been, by these prompt measures of 
Fremont and his party, with the subsequent naval action, 
entirely disconcerted. The expected meeting on the 15th 
of June failed ; the Macnamara grants were not perfect- 
ed ; and when, on the i6th of July, Admiral Sir Georgo July ifi. 

Admiral "^ir 

Seymour arrived in the CoUinirwood at the harbor of tJeorge Sev- 

*' '-' mour conn s 

Monterey, the American flag was flying from every prom- ffoJnfafn po^' 

1 1 /• y--i T^ • TT7. I session 1 if the 

ment pomt m the northern part of California. What he Americans, 
might have done, had he been beforehand with Commo- 
dore Sloat, he could not then do, without a manifest in- 
terference with the rights of belligerents. He took Mac- 

(July v.). 

namara on board his ship, and shortly after left the port. Fremont says 

Maenamnra 

His visit proved the crisis, — and his departure put an end "[^ero'iin-'^ 
to the hopes of the British party ; and for this reason op- ^°° '' 
erated favorably to the American cause. 

Commodore Stockton, on board the Congress, at Nor- 1^45, 
folk, Oct. 1845, was sent to sea with sealed orders ; not to com^'.^'^s^oek 
be opened until he had passed the capes of Virginia. These u. s for tho 

Pacific. 

orders directed him to proceed, first to the Sandwich Isl- 
ands, then to Monterey, where he was first to deliver dis- 

9 



194 COM. SLOAT S DILEMMA. 

1816. patches to Mr. Larkin, and then report himself to his su- 
perior officer, Commodore Sloat. He arrived at Monte- 
rey about the middle of July, and his valorous tempera- 
ment at once caught the spirit of the war. Commodore 

May 15. ^ ^ 

ton'^arrfvS'at Sloat was uot Well, and not, it appears, at ease in his 
o« erey. ^^^^^ There seemed to him a mystery which he could 
not fathom. That a special messenger should be sent 
past him, — nay — he to forward him, to a young officer 
like Fremont, and he himself an older, and equally faith- 
ful servant of his country, left in the dark ; this appears 
to have preyed upon his spirits, and he told Stockton he 
intended to return. 

When Fremont and Gillespie brought before Commo- 
dore Sloat the subject of the Californian battalion, he said it 
was not his intention to move from Monterey. He had no 
service for the troops, and would have nothing to do with 
sfockton™' them.f A day or two after this, Fremont and Gillespie 
Fremont's Called ou Commodorc Stockton ; and, on consultino; with 

trial. ' ° 

him, he thought differently, respecting the battalion. He 
was shortly to be left with the responsibility of holding 
and governing a country where many were disaffected. 
He persuaded Commodore Sloat to give him immedi- 
ate command on land ; and he invited those officers to 
take service under him. They consented ; and he re- 
organized the battalion, and issued his commission to 
Fremont as Major, and to Gillespie as Captain — of this 
somewhat anomalous description of force ; of which Fre- 
mont's original party was the nucleus, and the independ- 
ent Californians of the " Bear Revolution" made up the 



COMMODOKE STOCKTON. 195 

remaining part, which, now amounting to 160 gallant ^8 tl. 
men, ranked as an American "navy battalion." 

Commodore Sloat sailed in the Levant for the United ^ay og. 

. Com. SI'jat 

States on the 29th of July, leavmg Stockton in full com- leaves cai. 
mand. 

Neither Fremont nor Gillespie could have been thus 
commanded by Com. Stockton, but by their own con- 
sent. " The common voice of the people," says Fremont, 
" called me to the head of affairs, and I obeyed with 
alacrity. Lieut. Gillespie was of the marines, and was 

See Fre- 

besides on special duty by orders of the President. We mom's de- 

•^ •' "^ fence, p. 375 

might have continued our independent position, and ot"^io^uments, 
carried on the war by land." But they judged it best for 
their country, to take service under Stockton, and rank 
as a part of the forces of the naval commander. 

Commodore Stockton now ordered a movement on 
Ciudad de Los Angeles, it being understood that Gen. 
Castro, in conjunction with Don Pico, the civil Governor, Stockton and 

•' Fremont em- 

had there 600 men in arms. The Commodore and '^^^jTaJJa,^^" 

Fremont both embarked with their forces at Monterey, "^° '^^^' 

the former for San Pedro, the port of Los Angeles, and 

the latter for San Diego further south. Stockton with 

his marines first approached the enemy, who decamped 

at his approach. Fremont soon joined him, and togethei 

they took quiet possession of Los Angeles, with the co"m"stock- 

public buildings, the archives, and all the public property. Fremont take 

possession of 

On the 17th of August, Commodore Stockton issued his ^^os Angeles. 
proclamation, in which he informed the people of Cali- 
fornia, that, at his approach, Jose Castro, Commandant 



196 carsOxn's mail. 

1^46. General, buried his artillery, abandoned his fortified 
camp, and fled, as was believed, towards Mexico — that 
with the sailors, marines, and Californian battalion, they 
entered the city of Angeles on the 13th of August, and 
hoisted the North American flag, which was now flying 
August 17. from every commanding position in the territory — that 

Com Stock- 
ton institutes California was now in the possession of the United States, 

government, '■ 

tfoZ%u\%- a^^d would soon be provided with a civil government ; but 

quires an oath .„ , . , .,. , , , . . , 

of aiiegiacce till then, it was uudcr military law, to be administered 

from the miH- 

tary. |3y himself, the commander-in-chief. In the meantime, 
the people were requested to assemble in their several 
towns, and choose their officers. Military men who 
chose to remain, would be required to take an oath to 
support the existing government. 
Com. s. ap- Having made this proclamation. Commodore Stock- 

j)oints Freni't i-^.i- t -in*-- 

military com- tou, OH the 24th, intending to go to sea, appointed Major 

mandant,and 

Gillespie sec- Fremout, military commandant of California, and Lieut. 

retary. ' '' 

Gillespie secretary. On the 28th of August, these pro- 
ceedings were reported to the Navy Department, and 
Carson dispatched, via Santa Fe, to carry the reports 
public and private to Washington. Carson had pro- 
ceeded to the valley of the Del Norte, when he was met 
^omi^n-To^ by Gen. Kearny, with 300 men, coming to conquer 
b merby Kit California. Carson informed him that the work was 

Carson with 

news that the already done by Frem.ont and Stockton. Gen. Kearny 

conijuest is "^ "^ 

^''''"^^' then sent back 200 of his soldiers, and proceeded with 
an escort of 100 dragoons; obliging the reluctant Car- 
son to relinquish his march, and return to California as a 
guide. 



A REVOLT. 197 

Carson's mail was sent forward to Washington, by 1816. 
Mr. Fitzpatriclv. It reached its destination just in time 
for the President of the United States to use it in his 
annual message to Congress, and the Secretaries of War 
and the Navy in their reports to the President. In these 

^ ,, Fremont and 

tliree reports, ihe "gallant oincer, rremont, was most Stockton 

compliment'd 

cordially commended, and the bloodless conquest of S^nf^n/set- 
California by him and the naval officers related with '■®*^"®^- 
much satisfaction. Some months before this, the Presi- 
dent had sent forward to Fremont a Colonel's commis- 
sion, which he I'eceived on the 27th of October. 

But ere this was known to him, changes were to take 
place. Early in September, Fremont left Los Angeles, 
to aid Com. Stockton, in collecting recruits for an ex- 
pedition, which the valiant Commodore wished to under- 
take against Mazatlan. Thus occupied — the Commo- 
dore at San Francisco, and Fremont near Suter's Fort — 
news reached them from Gillespie, who was left in com- 

' September. 

mand at Angeles, that Castro had returned with a large ^,it^^/°a7aS 
Mexican force, headed by General Flores, or as he signed 
himself, Gov. Flores, and that Los Angeles and the 
adjacent region was in a state of open revolt ; that the 
American garrison had been expelled, and the marines 
defeated. The Commodore had now other occupation 
on his hands, than the conquest of Mazatlan, and Fremont, 
other than thatof playing governor-in-chicf of California ; 
it being the plan of Stockton, (forwarded by him to Wash- 
ington,) to leave Fremont in this office, while he himself 
went to make conquests in Mexico. By great activity 



198 AMERICAN REVERSES. 



^^'^^* and energy, Fremont succeeded in increasing his bat- 
tii'?ri'ncreas- talion to 428 men. Tlie recruits \n ere mostly from the 
untary action emigrants who, as we have before seen, approached Cali- 

of the emi 

grants. fomia this year in considerable numbers. 

Mr. Bryant informs us, that he being at Suter's, 
when news arrived from the south, of the disasters which 
had there occurred to the Americans, he immediately 
drew up a paper which was signed by himself and 
four other newly arrived Americans,! by which, with 

(t Messrs. 

Reed, Jacob conscut of Mr. Kcm, commander of Fort Suter, they 

Lippincott, 

anciGrayson.) offered their scrvices as volunteers, and agreed to 
make exertions to raise and equip a force of emigrants 
and Indians. 

The disastrous news alluded to was the defeat of 400 
marines, who landed at San Pedro, under Capt. Mervine, 
of the Savannah, — by a large force of Californians and 
Mexicans ; the capitulation of Capt. Gillespie, who was 
left in command at Los Angeles, and the escape of the 
garrison of Santa Barbara, under Lieut. Talbot, — from 
a force too powerful to be resisted. 

In the new organization of the battalion, Col. Russell 
became one of the officei's, and Mr. Bryant another. 
Capt. Suter personally intei'ested himself on this occasion, 
in procuring horses and provisions for the volunteers, 
which, with the condition of the country as it then existed, 
was a matter of great difficulty, and caused indispensable 
delays. Fremont once embarked to go by sea, but he 
learned after he had proceeded to Santa Barbara, that 
such was the hostility of the Californians at the south, thr 



MR. LARKIN A PRISONER. 199 

it would be absolutely impossible to procure horses. He 1846. 
turned, and procured them in the vicinity of the Bay and i^ifficSfues 
at Suter's Fort ; and with the resolute battalion, in the ^" ^^'^ 
inclement season of December^ he was to make a tedious 
march of 400 miles from Monterey to Los Angeles. 

While the volunteers were collecting at their two 
places of rendezvous, San Jose, and the Mission of San 
Juan, the worthy Mr. Larkin was made prisoner — as he 
was journeying, in the dangerous region of the marau- 
ders of the river Stanislaus — by an armed party of sev- 
enty Californians. They required of him to write an or- 
der to San Juan, requesting: twenty of his countrymen to 

^ ^ -^ -^ Mr. Larkin 

come to his relief, whom they meant to surprise and kill, "^^^'^arirrre"-' 
Every threat was used to make him write the order, '^emigrants. 
" Write " — said the consul. " I shall not — shoot as soon 
as you please!" When news of his captivity reached 
Suter's, a band of fifty, most of them the newly arrived 
emigrants, hasted to his relief, and effected it, though 
with the loss of two valuable men, Capt. Foster and 
Capt. Burroughs of St. Louis. Two of the Californi- 
ans were killed and two wounded. 

The march of the battalion to San Luis Obispo, be- 



tween the mountain ran^e and the ocean, was so secret, „p.^" l*^"'* 

i^J ' ' Obispo taken 



Dec. 14. 
?an Loui: 
jispo fake 

that the commandant of that military post was captured y ^"■'P'''**'- 
by surprise. This was Don Jesus Pico, cousin to the 
governor, and a man much beloved by his fellow citizens. 
But he had broken his parole; and he was, in that quar- 
ter, head of the insurrection. A court martial of Fre- 
mont's officers tried, and sentenced him to be shot. Fro- 



200 A COLD CHRISTMAS. 

i-^ie. mont, in the spirit of obedience to repeated instructions 

I'tThis in- °^ ^^® government, given indeed to all American officers 

' "ed"i)y Mr. io California, wished to conciliate the inhabitants. A pro- 

niyant, who 

V. itnessed the cessiott of vvomcn camc to bee for the life of their belov- 
Dec. 17. ed townsman. f Fremont freely pardoned him, and from 

r?oii J. Pico 

pHrdoned by that moment he and his friends were won. 

Fie.Tiont, 

He accompanied Fremont in his onward march. 

From the papers taken here, the action at San Pasqual 

was learned ; by which it became known, that a small 

Dec. 2.^. American force approached, but who was the command- 

Tlie batlalion 
encounter a qj. ^yg^g yg^ undisCOVCrcd. 
st.rm on the •' 

"^anra^'Ba?- On Christmas-day, amidst chilling winds and driving 

bara. 

rain, the patient and hardy battalion struggled over the 
mountain of Santa Barbara ; although so severe was the 
storm, that 100 horses and mules perished. At the long 
maritime Pass of the Rincon or Punta Gorda, where their 
march was flanked by one of the vessels of the navy, 
the little army was threatened by mounted horsemen; 
.Tan. 13. but as they did not attack, Fremont would not allow them 

Fieinont at i i • 

the plain of to be molcstcd. In the same manner he restrained his 

e'o.venga, 

cah ofnians troops, at the defile of San Fernando. Thus he entered 
^'^^hi'n?'.^ ° the plain of Cowenga, where the enemy, as he was in- 
formed, had a force equal to his own. He sent a sum- 
mons to surrender. The chiefs desired to hold a parley 
with the American commander; and Fremont went to 
them, accompanied only by Don Jesus Pico. The Cal- 
ifornian officers were, they said, moved by his clemen- 
cy, and they would capitulate to him, and to none other. 
By the capitulation, the Californians agreed that their 



THE CAPITULATION OF COWENGA. 201 

entire force should deliver their artillery and public arms 184T. 

to Col. Fremont — that they would return peaceably to 

their homes, and conform to the laws of the United capituLuon. 

States; but that no Californians, until after a treaty 

should have been made between Mexico and the United 

States, should be bound to take an oath of allegiance. ThisTapituia- 

1 11 . } 1 •^ 1 m ''*'" tlie final 

All prisoners on botn sides were released. This agree- pacification. 
ment proved the final pacification of California. 



1846, 



CHAPTER X. 

Commodore Stockton's Movements. — Gen. Kearny's March. — The 
Battle of San Pasqual. — Stockton sends Relief to Kearny. — 
Their March upon Los Angeles, and the Battle of San Gabriel. 

We now go back in the order of time, following the 
Fouthein movements of Commodore Stockton and Gen. Kearny. 

Californians 

revolt, and After Fremont had left Commodore Stockton, and durinsr the 

Anjeles re- ^ 

taken, period in which he was collecting and procuring supplies 
for his battalion, the Commodore was endeavoring to give 
aid to the exposed American garrisons at Monterey, and 
other places on or near the coast. Gillespie was besieg- 
ed at Los Angeles, capitulated, and went on board the Sa- 
vannah, then commanded by Capt. Mervine and lying at 
San Pedro. The Captain had debarked with his sailors 
and marines, and an affair occurring between him and 
the Californians, he met with some loss, and returned to 
the ship. 

Dec. 3. While Commodore Stockton was at San Diego, await- 

Com. Stock- ^ ' 

^^'Viener* ing the co-operation of Fremont to attack Los Angeles, 
Kearny. " hc reccivcd ou the 3d of Dec. a letter from Gen. Kear- 
ny, dated " Warner's Ranche," informing him that he 



GEN. KEARNY APPROACHES. 203 

had taken New Mexico, "annexed it to the United 1846. 
States," established a civil government there, and was 
now, by order of the President, on his way to California ; 
and he requested of Commodore Stockton to send back 
with Mr. Stokes, the messenger, who lived near Warner's 
Ranche, a party to open a communication with him, the 
General havino; learned the revolted and unsettled state 

'^ Kearny 

of the country. Commodore Stockton immediately sent ^^on'unlafe^ 
forward Capt. Gillespie with thirty-six men and a field- Stockton 

sends an in- 
sufficient 



party to re- 
lieve liim. 



piece. He sent by him, information to Gen. Kearny, 
that the enemy, 150 strong, and commanded by Don An- 
dreas Pico, were in the neighborhood. 

The march of Gen. Kearny, from Santa Fe by the 
river Gila — across the Colorado — to the neighborhood of ny's route. 
San Diego, had occupied the months of October and No- 
vember. Above the mouth of the Gila, Lieut. Emory, 
the well-known topographical engineer of the party, had 
captured a horseman with the Californian mail for Sono- 
ra. It was by this means that Gen. Kearny learned, 
that the southern part of California was no longer in the Li^'i^^mory 
power of the Americans. The letters related with great mau'^and^eu 

nn)>leasant 

exultation the affair at San Pedro, where Capt. Mervine "^ws. 
was, with his marines, prevented from marching to Los 
Angeles, and turned back to his ship with loss. This, 
though true, was, by Gen. Kearny and his party, taken 
for an exaworeration. But thev were a small and travel- 

^^"^ " Warner's 

worn company, and when they arrived at Warner's Ran- ^,'Ji"el'f;om 
che, about thirty-three m^iles from San Diego, Gen, Kear- '' ^ * 
ny sent to Com. Stockton, by the neutral Englishman. 



204 SAN PASQifAL. 

1846. Mr. Stokes, whose ranche was the former Mission of 

Santa Isabella, with the letter already mentioned. On 

CaifLGi'iies- the 5th of December, Capt. Gillespie joined Gen. Kear- 

pie joins 

Kearny. ny. They learned that a hostile force of mounted Cal- 
BHt?i7of San ifomians, under Andreas Pico, barred their way. On 
the morning of the 6th. the combined parties moved for- 
ward before light, intending to surprise their foe. But 
they, freshly mounted, were awaiting the Americans ; 
and they fought with great bravery. The Americans 
stood their ground ; but it was at the expense of the lives 

A meiican 

i.iss-kiiied Qf eisjhteen killed on the field, and thirteen wounded, 

]8; wounded, '^ ' 

^'" among whom were Gen. Kearny, Captains Gillespie and 
Gibson, Lieut. Warner, and Mr. Robideau.the interpreter. 
Among the killed, were Captains Johnson and Moore, 
and Lieut. Hammond. 

The camp of the Americans, the night after the bat- 



Night of the 

ith. 
Melancholy 



j.j,^ tie, presented a scene of which private life affords little 



scene. 



room for comparison. Their wounded — where should 
they procure them comforts ? Their dead — where find 
them graves, so secret and so profound, that their bodies 
would not be exhumed and rifled ? Mournfully, by the 
darkness of the night, the survivors made their resting 
place, deep beneath a solitary willow ; while wolves howl- 
ed a discordant requiem. 
Dec. 7. On the 7th, the Americans were intercepted by the 

(t One of . . ,. 

lem St he- encmv. A part of their little force was occupied with the 

ic deads of "^ ^ ^ 

tiie war.) ambulauccs of their wounded, as they attempted to move. 
But they charged, f and drove the Californian horsemen, 
wounding several. But they had only retired, to return 



THE HILL OF SAN FERNANDO. 205 

in greater numbers. The next day, the 8th, the Ameri- 1816, 
cans were besieged in their camp, on the hill of San Fer- 
nando. For the party to move, would be a deed of des- Thel'meri- 

caus in dan- 

peration, as it would take half their force to transport the ger— hero- 

^ ism ot Carson 

wounded ; and the enemy, fresh and well-mounted, and ^'"^ ^'''*'^- 
in superior numbers, were watching them in every di- 
rection. Fortunately, they found, by digging at the foot of 
a rock, a little water ; but they were distressed for want 
of food. Then it was that Carson,* with Lieut. Beale 

* One of the most eloquent portions of Col. Fremont's defence, 
is where he speaks of Kit Carson. Wishing to invalidate the testi- 
mony of Gen. Kearny, Fremont thus alludes to the evidence given 
by him, that he did not recollect, indeed did not know, the person 
(who was Kit Carson) that brought him a certain letter, hereafter to 

be mentioned. 

Gen. Kearny 
" For Gen. Kearny," said Fremont, addressing the court, " not to f rgetting Kit 

Carsim, Fre- 

know Kit Carson, not to remember him when he brought the letter mont shows 

Kit's claims 

on which this prosecution is based ; to swear that he had never seen to be remem- 
bered, 
the man, before or since, who brought that letter, when that man 

was the same express from Commodore Stockton and myself from 
whom he got the dispatches ; whom he turned back from the con- 
fines of New Mexico, and made his guide to California ; the man 
who showed him the way, step by step, in that long and dreary 
march ; who was with him in the fight of San Fasqual ; with him 
on the besieged and desolate hill of San Fernando ; who volunteer- 
ed with Lieut. Beale and the Indians to go to San Diego for relief, 
and whose application to go was at first refused ' because he could 
not spare him ; ' who was afterwards the commander of the scouts 
on the march from San Diego to Los Angeles ; not to know this 
man who had been his guide for so many months, and whom few 
see once without remembering, and not only not to know him, but to 



20G HEROISM AND SUCCESS. 

^^^^* and an Indian, (his name should be told,) heroically vol- 
unteered to go to Com. Stockton at San Diego, and pro- 
cure assistance. Most dangerous was the service, and 
forlorn the hope, that the messengers could escape the 
"^alTce."' keen-eyed foe— but they did. — On the night of the 10th, 
the tramp of horses was heard in the melancholy camp, 
and soon the hearts of the soldiers were gladdened, and 
their hunger relieved, by their brethren from the Ameri- 
can ships at San Diego. 

Not a moment had been lost after Carson and Lieut. 
Beale had made the condition of the party known to 
to?f pm?npt Com. Stockton, before measures were taken for their re- 
lief. Lieut. Grey, with a party of 180 sailors and ma- 
rines, left San Diego on the night of the 9th. They hid 
themselves during the day of the 10th, and at night gave 
to their scarcely expecting countrymen, a joyful surprise. 
In the surprise, though not in the joy, their enemies par- 
ticipated ; and forthwith decamped, not even removing 
their animals. 

In two days, the party were at San Diego.* Com. 

swear that he had never seen him before or since ; — this was indeed 
exhibiting an infirmity of memory, ahnost amounting to no memo- 
ry at all." 

* Capt. Emory relates, that as they came upon a hill where they 
had their first view of the Pacific, one of the men from the interior, 
who had never seen an ocean, exclaimed, " Lord ! there is a great 
prairie without a tree ! " — The town of San Diego, says Capt, Em- 
ory, consists of a few houses of adobe, two or three of which only, 
have plank floors. The Mission is a fine large building, now deser- 
ted. (1846. 



WHO IS GOVERNOR f 



207 



Stockton, having sent all his horses to Gen. Kearny's 
relief, walked out to meet him, took him to his quarters ; 
and all possible attentions were shown by the officers of 
the navy, to him and his wayworn compaaions. 

Fremont, now toiling on his long march, did not yet 
appear, nor was any thing heard of him or his battalion. 
They were anxious at San Diego for his fate, and Gen. 
Kearny, not probably relishing his subordinate position, 
and perhaps desirous to see Fremont before he should see 
Stockton, offered to go with a party to his relief. Com. 
Stockton, however, decided himself to move north 
immediately, with all the force which could be mus- 
tered. 

Gen. Kearny was now in a position, anomalous and 
unpleasant. He was sent to conquer and to govern. 
But he had by no means entered California as a con- 
queror ; and how was he to become governor, without an 
efficient force at his command, when Com. Stockton be- 
lieved that he was, by right, governor of the country ? 
Yet he courteously offered to relinquish the command to 
Gen. Kearny^ and go to Los Angeles as his aid. Gen. 
Kearny was, in truth, the superior officer, being a 
brigadier-general ; and — holding the order of the Sec- 
retary of War to that effect, he was really governor-in- 
chief. But Com. Stockton having been in the chief 
command, and having at risk to his own corps, saved 
that of Kearny — this far-off order of the War Depart- 
ment, made for one state of things, and now fallen upon 
another, seemed to him a nullity. There is nothing 



184T. 



Kearny 

wishes to 

go and meet 

Fremont. 
Stockton de- 
cides to go 
himself. 



Difficulties 
growing up 

between 
Kearny and 
Stockton re- 
specting the 
chief authori- 
tv. 



208 TWO COMMANDERS. 

184T. more precarious than the peace which exists between 
two persons thus situated — no matter how polite each 
may be. Who wants his right by courtesy ? and besides, 
he who accepts it thus from the stronger party, may at 
any moment be displaced. Kearny knew that, at 
the moment, Stockton commanded more men than he. 
Fremont was an important man to him, and he 

(■\ Fremont 

received four, wrotc him short afFectionatc notes it while he declined 

before writing ' 

''\e?Mrom"'" the courteous offer of Gov. Stockton, to take the 
" ' chief command of the expedition ; and on his part, 
proposed to accompany Stockton to Los Angeles as 
his aid. This service the commodore accepted, and 
himself took the chief command, notwithstanding the 
little knowledge of land tactics, which he and his officers 
possessed. Before setting out, however, Kearny told 
Stockton that he must command the troops. Stockton 
agreed that he might, and introduced him to the ma- 
rines as their commander — yet under him, as governor- 
in-chief. 
Dee. 29. They began their march on the 29th of December, 

begins. with fifty-scven dragoons, officers and men, the remains 
of Gen. Kearny's escort — four hundred marines, and 
sixty volunteers. They had six heavy pieces of artillery 
and eleven heavy wagons. They had provided well 
against surprise, by organizing a scouting party, with 
Carson for its leader. Their march was along the coast 
— across the Solidad — by the deserted mission of San 



184T. 

Jan. 2. 



At San Luis L^is Rey, and the small town of Flores : thence by a 
narrow pass between the ocean and a neighboring moun- 



SAN GABRIEL. 209 

tain to another deserted mission — that of San Juan 184T. 
de Capistrano, now owned by the Pico family. Here At jan Juan 
had once been a fine cathedral, but a part of it was "^ ''i"* ■'•^'^o- 
thrown down in 1822 by an earthquake, killing fifty per- 
sons within, who had fled to it for refuge. On the 6th 
of January, the troops passed the pleasant stream of the 
Santa Anna. On the 7th, when near the River San 
Gabriel, and nine miles distant from Los Angeles, thej 
found the enemy in force, and prepared to dispute their 
passage ; and they joined battle. 

The enemy under Gen. Flores were superior in num- 

San Gabriel. 

bers. 1 hey were all mounted, and the best horsemen in Amencans 

victorious. 

the world. The great body of the American troops were k.^i'"JTi7 
sailors, little skilled in land operations ; and they had 
two commanders. In two instances, at least, in the course 
of the battle, what was done by Gen. Kearny's com- 
mand, was undone by Com. Stockton's,* Yet officers 
and men bore gallantly on, and won the field. 

But the enemy were still in force, and while the 
Americans, now within three miles of Los Angeles, were ^'^Mei^'^^ 
marching acrcss the Mesa, a plain between the rivers k. 0;*w. 5. 
San Gabriel and San Fernando, Flores appeared before 
them, opened his artillery, and deployed in crescent, his 
line of battle. After some fighting, and a small loss on 
both sides, the foe drew off. This was the force which 

(t Except 

capitulated to Fremont at Cowens^a.f Fiores.wi.o 

^ ^ ' escajied to 

Mexico.) 
* One was the forming of a square, and the other, the unlim- 

bering of the guns, as they were about to cross the San Gabriel. 

(See Fremont's trial.) 



210 COL. Russell's mission. 

1846. The commanders judiciously forbore to enter the city 

at evening, lest during the night, excesses should be 

Jan. 10. committed. The next morning they entered Los Ange- 

Stockton and 

Kearny enter Jes without material lujury ; but with unpleasant expres- 
sions of dislike from the inhabitants. 

Immediately after the capitulation of Cowenga, Col. 
Fremont, who had now learned that Gen. Kearny was 
at Los Angeles, although he knew not in what capacity 
he had come, sent forward Col. Russell with directions 
carefully to inquire whether he or Stockton was in chief 

Col. Russell command, and to make his report of military operations 

sent Dy r re- ^ * J i: 

"who is* gov™ accordingly. He bore a letter from Fremont to Gen. 
Kearny, in answer to his affectionate notes. Col. Rus- 
sell, personally acquainted with the General, called first 
on him, and asked him whether he or Stockton was in 
chief command. Gen. Kearny informed him, that it 
was the Commodore who was in exercise of that func- 
tion ; but he claimed that, by his orders, the right to exer- 
cise it belonged to him. 



ernor. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Col. Fremont made Governor, by Com. Stockton. — Gen. Kearny*s 
successful measures to obtain the ascendency. 

Col. Fremont the next day after the capitulation of 1846. 
Cowenga marched at the head of his battalion ; and j^^ j^ 
when within five miles of Los Angeles, met his mes- (t The plain 

of Cowenga is 

seno;er Col. Russell ; from whom he learned for the first 12 miles from 

^ ' Angeles.) 

time, that Gen. Kearny had been sent from Washington 
to conquer and to establish a government in California. 
He had previously been informed — while at the camp of 
the Willows, near San Barbara, by Capt. Hamlyn, a 
special messenger sent to him by sea from Stockton, Fremont had 

r^ T ■ n information 

while he with Kearny were lying at San Luis Key, on of Keamy's 

entrance into 

their way to Angeles — that Kearny had, after a defeat ^'aiifomia. 
at San Pasqual, been assisted to reach San Diego, by the 
naval forces sent by Stockton to his rescue. That 
coming thus, Stockton and himself, who had conquered 
California, were at once to defer to Kearny, he probably. 

His choice 

in the flush 01 success, thought too unreasonable to merit between 

Sfocitton and 

much attention. Gen. Kearny, the elegant officer, and, ^^l^^l.!^^f 
when not moved by anger, the prepossessing man, he "^^"^'"h^a. ^^ ' 



212 NEARLY BALANCED. 

181'''* appears to have regarded with personal cordiality, as 
a former acquaintance, and as the friend of those he 
loved. 

But every thing had been laid in a train between 
himself and Com. Stockton ; the latter to go to Mexico, 
and he to be left Governor-in-chief of California. The 
25th of October had been the day appointed ; and the con- 
summation was only prevented by the insurrection which 
both had been engaged in quelling. And not only this, 

Fremont's 

*^o^r la?/'" ^^^ iheir whole plan had been transmitted to Washing- 
ton, in the mail sent by Carson, and by Gen. Kearny 
transferred to Mr. Fitzpatrick ; so that it was without 
doubt there believed, that he was at the moment actually 
filling the post of Governor of California. From Col. 
Russell he further learned, that although the General and 

Stockton and the Commodorc had met as friends, thev were now each 

Kearny " 

oppo>ed to chafed in mind, — each feeling that the other claimed what 

eacli other. ' o 

belonged to him. In this juncture Fremont, at the head 

Fremont in ^ 

important of 400 efficient troops, was an important man. Which- 

maii to each. 

ever side he joined, would be the superior in militaiy 
strength. Gen. Kearny, in case Fremont acknowledged 
his authority, would have the whole land force at his 
command ; but if he united with Stockton, then Kearny's 
position would, for the time, be mortifying to his pride ; 
and calculated to awaken his anger. Both he and 
Stockton, Russell said, offered Fremont the governorship ; 
though the offer from Kearny was not to take immediate 
effect. Col. Russell thought, that Kearny was the better 
friend of the two, to Fremont. Stockton had at first dis- 



COGITATIONS. 213 

approved the capitulation of Cowenga. Kearny had put IH-IT. 
words into his mouth, wherewith to defend it. But 
Stockton was, as matter of fact, in chief command. This 
Kearny acknowledged ; and allowed that he had served 
under him in the march from San Diego ; but he 
showed orders from the government, by which he judged 
himself entitled to the chief command ; and a military 
tribunal has since decided that he was right. Fremont, 

Fremont re- 

however, regarded those orders as obsolete — intended /^s'^orSas 
for a state of things no longer existing. He regarded 
Kearny's orders to govern as predicated upon a previous 
conquest, which himself, rather than Kearny, had made. 
He thought that his country owed it to his prompt and 
independent action, that California had not been lost to 
her, by the scheme of British protection. The fact that 
to him the American Executive had sent by sea and 
shore, a special messenger five thousand miles,* doubt- 

* To continue, not to commence secret confidential inter- 
course and instructions. Tlie message was verbal, not writ- 
ten. Capt. Gillespie was a worthy officer of marines, but not a 
Metternich, to explain, for the iirst time, a course of policy and the 
reasons for it. Fremont in his defence, uses this expression: 
*' Knowing well the views of the Cabinet, and satisfied that it was 
a great national measure to unite California to us as a sister state, 
by a voluntary expression of the popular will." We cannot but 
think he was willing, that the crisis should have been met, at the 
Hawks' Peak. 

Lieut. Revere, in his " Tour of Duty," an interesting book just 
issued from the press, speaks thus of the reasons for Fremont's not 
accepting the offered services of Californian Americans while at » 



214 • HONESTY MJtfY MISTAKE. 

ISi'i' less had its weight ; and if he had successfully ex- 
ecuted these confidential orders, without betraying the 
administration to the blame of their opponents, then this 
might naturally make him presume, that his course, if 
sanctioned by his own sense of duty, would be sus- 
tained by the government. But the Executive could not 
afford to offend the whole army ; and discipline is the 
rifrht arm of its efficiency, and the sensitive nerve of 

Jan. 14. => -^ ' 

tmTngJii" every officer. — Fremont went forward to Angeles ; and 
was met both by Stockton and Kearny with cordiality. 
This was soon, in the latter, to be changed to stern un- 
yielding resentment ; for Gen. Kearny soon found, that it 
Jan. 16. was to Stocktou, uot to himself, that Fremont would ad- 

Stockton 
commissions here. 
Fremont as 

governor. rj.j^^ ^^^ l^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ ^j^^.^, arrival at Los Ange- 

les, Com. Stockton, then residing at the house of the 
governors of California, sent to Fremont and Russell, 
who came a little past noon, and received from him 
commissions, to act as governor and secretary of the 
province. 

At the dusk of the evening, Capt. Emory, the ac- 

Capt. Emory 

brings Fre- complishcd adjutant of Gen. Kearny, came to Fremont's 

mont Gen. r j j i 

wrUtTn wder. quarters, bearing a copy of the orders of the Secretary 

that mountain camp. " Knowing, I imagine, that his own party was 
quite sufficient to compete with any force that Castro could bring 
against him, fearing perhaps to compromise his countrymen, in 
person and property, had Castro by any unexpected circumstance 
proved successful." Mr. Larkin is rich. Bryant says he will proba- 
bly be the first American millionaire of California. 



AN ACT WITH CONSEQUENCES. 215 

of War, giving to the General, the chief command in 184T. 
California ; — and a written order, directing Fremont to 
make no changes in the Californian battalion without 
Gen. Kearny's sanction. 

The next morning the General sent him a line of 
request to come to him on business. Fremont was 
making his written answer, but he hastened at the sum. 
mons, leaving his acting secretary, Lieut. Talbot, to 
copy the letter, and send it after him by Carson, to Gen. 
Kearny's quarters. 

Carson soon brought it in, and Fremont signed and 
handed it to the General. It was the avowal of his de- Fremontre- 

fuses to obey 

termination, with his reasons, not, at that time, to change Keamy's 

' ' ' ' & order. 

his military position. " Until you adjust between your- 
selves," he wrote, " the question of rank, I shall have 
to report and receive orders, as heretofore, from the Com- 
modore." 

Gen. Kearny, on reading the letter, requested Fre- 
mont to take it back, and destroy it ; and with kindness 
remonstrated against his course. Fremont persisted ; 
and the same kindness, he never met again. From that 
time, Kearny determined to arrest, and bring him to pun- 
ishment. 

The next morning, the embittered General took his jan. is to 23. 
way from Angeles, with his small and diminished escort marches from 

*" Angeles to 

of now unmounted dragoons. He retraced his march to ^^° ^'®so. 
San Diego, to meet the expected Mormon battalion under j^^^ ^^ 
Col. Cooke. That officer had already reached San Diego, "arrives. * 
leaving the Mormons in the vicinity. Subsequently they 



216 GovER^fOR Fremont. 

184 T. were removed to the mission of San Luis Rey, 100 miles 
from Angeles. — Lieut. Emory was on the 25th sent to 
Washington with dispatches. Kearny had now a land 

Jan. 20. force at his command. He next went by sea to com- 

btockton "^ 

^^^''"Ls^""^' mune with the naval authorities at Monterey, leaving 

He goes to . i r. n , • i ... 

sea. Cooke m command of all the troops m that vicmity. 

Com. Stockton meantime left Los x^ngeles two days 
Kearny sails after Keamy's departure. At San Pedro, he embarked 

from San 

Diego for his marines, and sailed, as he had predetermined, to 

Monterey. ^ 

make conquests on the coast of Mexico. 

Fremont now occupied the gubernatorial mansion in 
Los Angeles, vacated for him by Com. Stockton. He 
appears to have administered the government with mild- 
ness, discretion, and dignity. His state papers are few, 
Jan. and Feb. but such as no American need be ashamed of — in his 

Fremiint as n • tt • i i 

governor, owu, or a foreign country. He mmgled, as one among 

Lives respect- 

ioved\"thout ^^^ people, having the intimate friendship of influential 

^g^aX^ Californians. He sent his battalion for quarters to the 

deserted mission of San Gabriel, nine miles from Angeles, 

and kept with him, and in his family, but Col. Russell, 

the secretary, Capt. Owens, and another ofRcer of the 

Californian battalion. But these fair and pleasant days 

were, to Gov. Fremont, soon to be succeeded, by months 

of darkness. 

Feb 8 Gen. Kearny, on arriving at Monterey, found Com. 

^reacher°^ Shubrick, wlio had arrived in the Independence on the 

Monterey. 

27th of January. Shubrick had orders, originally di- 
rected to Com. Sloat, but now transferred to him, by 
which the government of the country seemed vested in 



GOVERNOR KEARNY. 217 

the commanding naval officer ; and although as he wrote l^^^* 
in answer to a letter from Fremont (stating his course p^i, ,7 

Frem nt 

and his reasons) he was mstructed by the government writes oshu- 
that Kearny was governor, yet he intimated that he '^J^^e.g^"!"" 
should not interfere to break up present arrangements, 
until further orders from Washington. 

A few days after receiving this letter, Fremont was 
astounded by public proclamations issued from Monterey. 
The first of these was signed by Com. Shubrick and joinf'^proL'ia. 

in alio 11 of 

Gen. Kearny, jointly : and declared, that the President shubrick and 

Kearny. 

of the United States had assigned to the naval com- 
mander the regulation of the import trade, and all the 
conditions by which vessels were to enter and leave the 
harbors ; and to the commanding military officer, the di- 
rection of the operations on land, and the administrative 

functions of the government. The second proclamation Gen Kear- 
ny's ])ro-la- 

— both of the same date, March 1, — was signed alone „";'5'j°";,f"^ 
by Gen. Kearny. It set forth, that he, (the under- 
signed,) having been instructed to take charge of the 
civil government of California, he entered upon its duties, 
with every good desire and intention to promote the wel- 
fare of the people. He guaranteed freedom of con- 
science and protection of life and property. " It is," he 
said, " the wish and design of the United States to pro- 
vide for California, with the least possible delay, a free 
government, similar to those in her other territories, and 
the people will soon be called upon to exercise their rights 
as freemen, in electing their own representatives." But 

in the meantime, the Mexican laws, when not conflicting 

10 



annex alioa. 



.j;q a dangerous experiment. 

1841. vvith those of the United States, would be continued, and 

those persons who held office, continue ; " provided 

ctThe ca- iluy swear\ to support that constitution, and faithfully per- 

pitulatioii of 

cowengahad form their dutv. — The undersigned hereby absolves all 

provided that -^ & ^ 

Sil^^Vhouid the inhabitants of California from any further allegiance 

be deleired 

till the close to tlw RcpubUc of Mexico, and will consider them as citi- 

ot'the war.) 

zens of the United States." Entire annexation was de- 
clared. The Americans and Californians were now but 
one people. All difficulties were at an end. " The star- 
spangled banner floats over California, and as long as 
the sun continues to shine, so long will it float there." 
Fremont By this public proclamation, unknown and unex- 

placed by , _ ., , , i i i 

Kearny's pro- pectcd to Fremont, until the blow was struck, that young 

claniHtion in a 

mUcime"n^t ^"^ high-spintcd officer was held up to the people, after 
having been their leader and their hero, in a light the 
most intensely mortifying. And had he no power to 
sting back again ? Holding the governorship at the old 
metropolis where the people were Mexican in feeling 
— having the friendship of the Pico family, the most 
powerful and influential among them — having the com- 
mand of 400 men of the Californian battalion, a portion 
of which were his original party, and another part, 
those who had made him their independent leader, 
and who were as hostages from the valley of the Sac- 
ramento — he might, had he chosen to pursue the dic- 
tates of natural pride and resentment, have at least 

manifests true made a civil war, which would have wet the soil of 

heroi m in de- 

teminingto California with kindred blood, and porhaps eventually 

submit. 'II 

lost that country to the United States. But Fremont 



FRESH INJUNCTIONS. 219 

resolved rather to submit to personal humiliation ; nor 1Q*'?'» 
had he intended to resist the orders of the government. 

The change in the course of Com. Shubrick was 
brought about by orders, dated Nov. 5, 1847, received 
from Washington, and brought out by Col. Mason, 
who had been appointed to relieve Gen. Kearny — he 
having permission to return to the United States. Di- 
rections were also given, to allow Lieut. Col. Fremont, 
if he wished — to join his regiment, or pursue his explo- 
rations. 

Capt. Turner, sent from Gen. Kearny to Los Anseles, March n. 

^ ' '' ^ ' l\e receives 

arrived on the 11th of March, bearing orders to Fre- orSb^Capt. 
mont, dated March 1. He brought him also late or- 
ders of the government, by which he was convinced, 
for the first time, that Kearny, not himself, would be 
sustained at Washington. Gen. Kearny also advised 
Fremont that he had intrusted Col. St. George Cooke ma^iehJ^Ge'li^ 
with the supervision of the southern military district; tT/ycom-'' 

mandant. 

for the protection and defence of which, his Mormon bat- 
talion would be placed wherever he should deem most 
eligible. To Fremont, an order was given, as com- 
mander of the Californian battalion, to muster the men, 
if not already done, with a view to their regular pay- 
ment and according to acts of Congress, into the regular TheMormons 

approach Los 

service of the United States ; (to remain doubtless with Angeles. 
the Mormons, under the command of Col. Cooke,) while 
if there were any, who were unwilling thus to remain, 
Fremont was ordered to conduct them to San Francisco, 
via Monterey, to be there discharged. 



220 A traveller's reception. 

184T. It was at first Fremont's intention to obey these 

orders, and thus he told Capt. Turner. But difficulties 
arose. The entire battalion, officers and men, refused 
to be mustered. Fremont regarded himself as responsi- 
ble that they should be righted, as to payment for past 
services ; and he had, in the course of his public acts, 
become personally responsible in large amounts. He 
further thought, that the American interest required that 
^, , „, , the Californian battalion should not be disbanded. Leav- 

Blarch 21 to 

Fremont rides ^^g orders to the officers, that the ordnance and stores 

horseback 400 , , _ , , .... , , • , 

miles in 3 d. should remam as they were until his return, he took with 

10 h. •' 

him, his friend, Don Jesus Pico, and one servant ; and 
on horseback, they rode four hundred miles in three days 
and ten hours, and arrived on the 25th of February at 
Monterey. The particular object of Fremont was to 
discuss with Gen. Kearny the pecuniary liabilities in- 
curred by himself individually, and as governor; and to 
devise some means by which they should be so met as to 
save his honor and that of his country.* 

He went to the house of the kind Mr. Larkin, and 
from thence sent a note to Gen. Kearny, desiring to see 
him on business ; and an hour that evening was ap- 
pointed. Mr. Larkin accompanied him, but soon with- 
drew. Col. Mason was present, and when Fremont 
Acoidrecep- guo-orested that he wished to be alone with Gen. Kearny, 

tion. C50 

he was told by him that he had nothing to hear or to 

* These pecuniary claims were not provided for, until by a 
law of Congress, passed in the winter of 1848. 



UNQUIET TIMES. 221 

communicate, to which Col. Mason, who was to succeed ISI'7. 
him, should not be a party. Thus repelled, Fremont 
wholly failed in the object of his journey. But when the 
question was peremptorily put, whether he would obey 
Kearny, he answered in the affirmative. He then re- 
ceived an order to send those of the battalion who re- 
fused to take service, by water to Monterey ; and him- 
self speedily to repair to that place by land.f Fremont niLtiIn"G'en' 
and his little party then remounted, and rode back in the Fremont on 

^ "^ his telling him 

same rapid manner as they came, makin<j their whole ^^^^^ f-^^'^"^'T 

' J ' o ages disagreed 

absence from Angeles but eight days. health.')* 

New vexations awaited Fremont. Col. Cooke had 
arrived in his absence, and requiring, by virtue of his 
appointment, that the ordnance of the battalion at the mis- 
sion of San Gabriel, should be turned over to him, the offi- 
cers, acting under the directions of Fremont, had refused. 
Shortly after, Col. Mason came with orders from Kearny, jvi-^r^hoj? 

dated three days after the interview at Monterey, by ivi'ason'.s or- 
ders. 
which, he was to be received as governor, and obeyed 

by Fremont ; who was directed to appear in Monterey 

within twelve days after he should have embarked the 

volunteers. 

The country in the meantime became convulsed. 

Parties of armed men were passing to and fro, and every ,j,j^^ ^.^.^.^ 

thing wore the appearance of a fresh outbreak. Kear- appear""to%e 

on the eve of 

ny s proclamation and annexation of California, had an outbreak, 
grated harshly upon the ears of those who loved their 
country, the Mexican Republic — and whose first wish 
it was, to return to her bosom ; and not be held under 



222 THE MORMONS t)READED. 

^^'*^^* the dominion of those, who in language, religion, and 
manners, were foreigners to them. The proclama- 
tion, abrogating the conditions of the capitulation of 
Cowenga, set them free from all honorary engagements. 
They were horror-stricken by the fear of being sub- 
jected to the Mormons ; and of having, as they under- 
The approach stood was to be the case, their whole society to come 

of the Mor- 
mons agitates and Settle amoncr them — havino^ heard of them, as a sect, 

the people. '-^ *- 

blackened with foul and bloody crimes. *' The Ameri- 
can people make war upon them," said they, " and why 
should not we ?" and to encourage them, rumor was rife 
with the report, that Gen. Bustamente was shortly to 
appear in California with a large Mexican force. 

In this disturbed state of the country, travelling be- 
came unsafe. Murders were committed, and the two 
officers whom Fremont had retained as travelling com- 
panions, after sending by sea the battalion to Monterey, 
remonstrated against attempting the journey. Fremont 
had prepared horses at San Gabriel to mount his original 
party, and proceed to Mexico, to join his regiment, or 
May 9. Otherwise to pursue his explorations. 

Gen. Kearny 

arrives at The month of April thus passed, and Fremont not 

Angeles. 

coming to Monterey, according to his orders. Gen. 
Kearny, early in May, appeared in person at Angeles. 
Having predetermined to arrest Fremont and bring him 
to trial for disobedience, he now refused to permit him to 
join his regiment ; and the horses which he had prepared, 
were afterwards sold, some for three dollars apiece, as 
public property. 



THE NEW- YORK REGIMENT. 228 

An important accession to the land force — which ^Q^'^* 
doubtless, by putting the Californians in fear, served to 

. , o Mar. and \p. 

quiet the country — was now accrunig, in the arrival oi Coi. steveu- 

* son's reg't 

the New- York regiment of volunteers, under Col. Ste- ^'^'i^^SJo^'^ 
venson. They had been enlisted as those, who had no 
objection to settle in California, provided they found an 
agreeable country. They came, different companies in 
different vessels, by Cape Horn ; and arrived succes- 
sively at San Francisco, in the months of March and (^co\ Steven- 
son liiin-elt' 

April. Thev brought mill-irons and various articles arrived M;ir. 
useful to settlers, as well as munitions of war. They 
were separated to different commands, and stationed at 
San Francisco, Sonoma, Monterey, Santa Barbara, and 

Los Angeles.* Fremont;. 

Towards the last of May, Gen. Kearny and Col. Fre- strumen's ta- 
ken out of'l/is 

mont being then at Monterey, the latter was required to i"i"ds. 



* A letter from Col. Stevenson, of Oct. 23, 1848, just pub- 
lished in the Albany Argus, gives a deplorable picture of Cali- 
fornia, at that date. He says it is without lav^^, either civil or 
military ; that there is not in Monterey, from whence he writes, 
either governor, or alcalde, or any military officer, except Capt. 
Burton, commanding the port, and some twenty soldiers. All the 
recruits sent out have deserted ; and he believes, that in a short 
time, there will be no military force, except officers ; and they 
have strong inducements to desert — if not to dig for gold, at 
least to find some place, where a common round jacket will not 
cost nfiy dollars, and indifferent board, four dollars a day. " In 
short," the letter concludes, " there is neither law, order, nor any 
kind of government in the country." 



224 Fremont's trial. 

^Q^*^* transmit to another's care, his exploring instruments. 
Com. Biddle, having arrived in the Columbus, was now 
in the chief naval command. In his presence, Fre- 
mont, with his reduced corps of about nineteen, was 
paraded, \vith circumstances, as he felt, of indignity. 

Gen. Kearny had been preparing to return to the 
United States, by way of the South Pass. He still re- 
jected every proposition of Fremont, to be permitted to 

Fremont travel by himself, though at his own expense ; direct- 

obliired to ac- '" 

company [^g- him to accompauy his route. At night he would 
thbMormons" not permit him to choose his own encampment, but 
obliged him to encamp in the rear of a guard of Mor- 
mons. Thus was marched from the foot of the Sierra 
Nevada, to Fort Leavenworth on the Missouri, the man 
whose discoveries had opened to view the geography of 

An-Tust '>-'» ^^^^ ^^^^ country — and whose fearless action, had perhaps 
reJeT'^red prcscrvcd it to the American Republic. At Fort Leaven- 
worth, August 22, he was arrested ; and at Fort Monroe, 
November 3, he appeared before a highly respectable 

1848. court-martial, charged with mutiny, disobedience, and 

Jan. 31. disorderly conduct. After a long trial, the court pro- 
Found guilty, 

:md con- nouuccd him guilty, and sentenced him to the loss of 

flemned to o ./ ? 

^^^Lission!""' his commission ; but the majority of his judges, in con- 
sequence of his professional services, and the peculiarity 
of his position, arising from the disagreement of his 
two superiors, recommended him to the clemency of the 
President. 
Ti.I?resident "^^ ^^^^® petitions, Mr. PoUv replied, that he was not 
pardons him. gj^^jg^j^^^^ ^l^^^ ^^le first charge had been proved against 



CLEMENCY REJECTED. 225 

the accused ; but he was of opinion that the second and 1841, 
third were sustained by proof, and that the conviction on 
these charges warranted the sentence of the court. The 
President therefore approved the decision, but on account 
of the peculiarities of the case, and of his previous 
meritorious and valuable services, the penalty was re- 
mitted ; he discharged from arrest, and directed to report 
for duty. 

Fremont, in his defence, had manifested an embit- 

Feb. 19. 

tered feeling against the administration ; chiefly that the ^jflTlS- 
charges against him had been sustained, and the prose- '"^"^^' 
cution ordered. He now refused to accept of clemency, 
on the ground, that this would be admitting the justice of 
the sentence. His connection with the army was there- 
fore at an end. 

There is no passage in American history which, in -p-gj-^r 
some respects, compares with the preceding. The three "IfafsagS" 

Am. history. 

principal actors were high in station ; and each possessing 
peculiar characters, and peculiar claims to our admi- 
ration. They were thrown together, under circum- 
stances to operate powerfully on human passions ; and 
the wonder is, that no more tragic consequences ensued. 
Gen. Kearny doubtless felt, that the dignity and discipline 
of the army was outraged in his person. His fellow The military 
officers sympathized in his feelings, and will honor him 
for the efficiency of the measures by which he established 
his authority, and brought to trial the second in the 
offence, since he could not reach the principal. But the 
common mind will sympathize with Fremont ; and his 



syni[ 
tliize with 
Kearny, tho 

common 
mind witli 

Freiuout. 



226 SYMPATHY. 

1841. services will be the better remembered, and the more 
highly appreciated, because they were followed, with 
humiliation.* 



* On one occasion Fremont was, it seems, threatened with 

(t Not by being put in irons.t If, instead of challenging for this threat, he 

bu'l bv^Gov!' could have actually received irons upon his limbs, and worn 

le'ed inso- them home, escorted by a Mormon guard — then there would 

have been a cry of a second Columbus, brought in chains from 

a new world, which he had discovered and secured, for his 

country ; and {he meantime guilty of no vice or folly) it might, in 

coming years, have made him President of the Union. Such is 

the spirit of the times, and of the people. It is well to take 

note of it ; for thus, patience may be taught to the vexed, and 

forbearance to the angry. 



i 



1816. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Col. Mason, whom Gen. Kearny left as governor 
of California, appears, from the result of his admin- 
istration, to have managed its affairs with great discre- 
tion. 

After the incidents, which we have detailed, had 
passed by, the public mind was, in 1848, occupied with 
Scott's invasion, and capture of Mexico ; and with the 
consequent treaty of peace with that Republic. 

In the month of February, 1848, while the treaty Discove'ry of 

the gold pla- 

was yet pending, a private discovery of gold was made c®""^- 
on the grounds of Capt. Suter. Mr. Marshall, his agent, 
was sent by him twenty-five miles up the South Fork of 
the American, to build a saw-mill. He observed gold 
existing in scales, washed down with dirt, in the mill- 
race. The discovery became known. The precious 
metal was found in other localities. The Mormons — 
other American settlers — and all of every race and na- 
tion, who heard and could labor, hastened to dig for it, 
in the upper " placers," or to wash it, from the sands of 
the river-beds. Rumors of Californian gold reached the 
Atlantic shores. These were converted to certainty 
by the message of President Pulk to Congress, at the message/ 



228 GOLDEN REALITIES. 

1848. opening of the session, December, 1848. Among the 
documents accompanying the message, was a letter 
from the governor of California, to the American Execu- 
tive, from which we draw these remarkable fiacts. 

Gov. Mason went in person to the gold " diggings " 
and " washings," called placers. They are also called 
mines ; but since no gold seemed yet to have been 
found in its original position, this term is not properly 
applied. 

On the 4th of July — while, at Washington, the Presi- 
dent was proclaiming peace under the new treaty, by 
^'''region^'^''^ which California passed from Mexico to the American 
Republic — the governor of the province was at Suter's 
Fort on his way to the gold region. As he passed along 
he found houses deserted, and fields of wheat going to 
ruin ; their owners having left them to dig for gold. 
Such had been the quantities already found, that labor, 
and all the comforts and necessaries of life bore an enor- 
mous price. Capt. Suter paid his wagon-maker and 
blacksmith ten dollars per day ; and received 500 dollars 
per month for the rent of a two-story house within his 
fort. 

Gov. Mason next followed the South Fork of the 
American, to the mill where the discovery was first 
made, and where two hundred persons were employed 
in gathering gold. He then pursued the course of the 
stream further into the mountains, where other parties 
were similarly engaged. He next crossed over to 
Weber's Creek, an affluent of the South Fork. Through 



EXTENSIVE MOVEMENT. 229 

all the way, gold was found by the hundreds who were 1818. 
seeking it; especially in the beds of the streams, and in goi,i found {„ 
the dry ravines, where water-courses had once existed. 
In a little gutter two men had found 17,000 dollars 
worth. Two ounces were an ordinary yield for a day's 
work. 

Other public functionaries of California, and private 
individuals, have given similar, or still more glowing ac- 
counts. The mint at Philadelphia assayed some of the 

Over 

specimens, and found them rich. The ref^ion over which an extensive 

^ ° region. 

this mineral wealth exists, is said to pass over some 
hundreds of miles. California has therefore become the 
central point of attraction, both to our own citizens, and 
to those of other nations. 

Between the 7th of December, 1848, and the 20th of 
January, 1849, ninety -nine vessels are said to have left 
the ports of the United States for California. Of these, 
eighty went by the way of Cape Horn, fourteen by 
Chagres and Panama, and the remainder stopped at 
more northern ports ; the emigrants to pass through 
Mexico and Texas. Fifty-tw^o of the vessels sailed 
from New- York, and twenty-nine from the ports of New 
England. From the newspapers of the day we learn 
that a number of vessels are now ready to sail. A great 
many emigrants from the older states, will go the land 
routet — taking: families, provisions, tools, and furniture, mated that 

' ° ^ l(t,(tOO will 

in large wagons, drawn by oxen. Most of these will ^"'jj" J^f'*' 
go by the South Pass of the Rocky Mountains — the 
Mormon settlement at the south end of the Salt Lake 



230 SACRED RESPONSIBfLITIES. 



^ 



1819- — by Humboldt's River, and thence through the Bear 
^routLr' P^^^ 0^ ^h® Sierra Nevada. For this journey, ninety 
days are calculated. Other emigrants will take the 
southern route by Santa Fe, the Rio del Norte, and 
the Gila, around the southern extremity of the Sierra 
Nevada. It is supposed that the emigrants from the 
Vi^estern states, will exceed in number those from the 
eastern. 

Whether this is true or not, it is certain that many 

of our ablest and most enterprising citizens are now 

on the wing, of whom numbers are intending to settle 

in that salubrious clime. God grant that nobler views 

founders ^^^^ ^^^ mere love of gold, accompany them thither. 

of a state, jyj^^ ^1^^^. ^^^j^ ^-^j^ ^ ^^^p sense of responsibility, that 

they are going to lay the foundations of a new and 
an important state. Let them look back for an ex- 
ample to their forefathers. Like them, may they be 
temperate, virtuous, and public-spirited. They will 
find that trials await them, which will call forth all their 
fortitude. Let their faces be sternly set against anarchy, 
the scourge, and too often the destroyer of free govern- 
ments. To this end, let .them uphold law, found 
schools, observe the sabbath, and maintain pure 
Christianity. 

THE END. 



